Former President Jacob Zuma's Party Joins Opposition Alliance in South Africa

In Summary

• Jacob Zuma's party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), joins the opposition alliance in parliament.
• MK claims last month's elections were rigged and demands annulment of results.
• The ANC formed a coalition with the DA after losing its outright majority.
• MK will become part of the official opposition, joining the Progressive Caucus.
• Zuma, an ANC veteran, fell out with the party after being forced to resign in 2018 over corruption scandals.

DETAILS

Capetown, South Africa- South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, has announced that his political party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), will join the opposition alliance in parliament. He stated that MK would coordinate resistance to the governing coalition led by the African National Congress (ANC). Despite this move, MK maintains that last month's elections were rigged and wants the results annulled.

In a speech read by MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela on Sunday, Zuma said the ANC was no longer part of the solution. He claimed there was no government of national unity in South Africa, describing the partnership as a “white-led unholy alliance between the DA and the ANC of Ramaphosa.”

The ANC lost its outright majority for the first time since the end of apartheid and sealed a power-sharing agreement at the weekend with the Democratic Alliance (DA). Several smaller parties have also joined what the ANC calls a national unity government. Their MPs re-elected ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term as president on Friday; however, a government is yet to be formed.

The DA and the ANC have been sworn enemies, and a power-sharing deal between them was once considered unimaginable by many South Africans. The DA grew out of a union of groups which included what was left of the apartheid-era ruling National Party and advocates for free-market economics, which contrasts with the ANC’s left-wing traditions.

Zuma also confirmed on Sunday that MK had lodged a court case demanding that the election results be declared invalid and that a new vote be held. He urged his supporters to "submit or fight" back by using peaceful means. “We will fight to win back our country from the enemies of progress,” he said.

There are fears that Zuma’s stance could trigger violence among his supporters, who sparked deadly riots in July 2021 when he was jailed for refusing to give evidence at a public inquiry into corruption during his administration. Police reinforcements have been sent to his home province, KwaZulu-Natal.

The 82-year-old Zuma said his party would soon go to parliament after boycotting Friday's first sitting. The newly formed MK did surprisingly well in the elections, becoming the country’s third-largest party and taking a significant chunk of votes from the ANC. It won 12% of the vote and obtained 58 seats in parliament.

Zuma stated that MK would become part of the official opposition, joining a group of small parties calling themselves the Progressive Caucus. The caucus, which collectively controls almost a third of the seats, includes the radical Economic Freedom Fighters and centre-left United Democratic Movement.

Zuma was an ANC veteran but fell out with the party after he was forced to quit as president in 2018 over corruption scandals. He has always denied any wrongdoing.