Not all doom & gloom for Zuma, MK after ConCourt ruling on election candidacy

JOHANNESBURG - Political pundits believe it's not all doom and gloom for the MK Party after the Constitutional Court barred its leader, Jacob Zuma, from running for a seat at the National Assembly in next week’s general elections.

On Monday, the apex court overturned the Electoral Court's ruling on Zuma's candidacy.

The ConCourt found that Zuma would have to wait five years for his 2021 conviction for contempt to lapse before running for public office.

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Zuma will have to park his aspirations for public office for now.

Despite this, he remains the face of the new kid on the block.

Political analyst, Dirk Kotze, said that the ConCourt's ruling was likely to have little bearing on the party's election plans.

"I think, in the end, it's not going to make such a major impact on MK because it does not disqualify Jacob Zuma from being the leader of the party. The only impact will be much later, when they are in Parliament and he’s not the parliamentary leader of the party and they will have to clarify who then is the parliamentary leader of the party. But in terms of the election itself, it changes very little."

Another political analyst, Levy Ndou, said that the future of the party depended on Zuma's approach going forward.

"If former president Jacob Zuma is not a selfish human being, this could be the right opportunity for the new leaders to lead the MK party with his support."

With eight days to go until the country votes, Zuma does still have the option to appeal the ruling to the same court.