CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African police were investigating Tuesday whether by former president Jacob Zuma new political party forged supporters’ signatures to register for next month’s national elections.
The MK Party, which has been highly critical of the ruling African National Congress which it used to lead, has been embroiled in legal proceedings over whether it and Zuma are eligible to contest the May 29 national and provincial elections. They could be the most important in South Africa over the last 30 years.
The MK party had its registration rejected last year by the Independent Electoral Commission before a second attempt was successful. Zuma was ruled ineligible to stand for Parliament due to his criminal conviction for contempt of court and prison sentence in 2021, but an appeal was successful and a final decision by the Constitutional Court will be released next month.
The new investigation into the MK Party came after a national newspaper reported on Sunday that a former party official told police there was an elaborate scheme to forge some of the 15,000 signatures needed for parties to register for elections.
The Independent Electoral Commission has called for an investigation, and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola said on Tuesday that an inquiry had been opened in Cape Town, where the forgery allegedly took place. Masemola said the investigation would establish whether there was a case for prosecutors.
Zuma shook up South African politics when he announced in December that he would join the MK Party as its de facto leader and campaign against the ANC, which he led between 2007-2017. Zuma was president of South Africa between 2009 and 2018, but was forced to resign by the ANC amid allegations of corruption.
Zuma is accused of overseeing a period of rampant corruption by some senior ANC and government officials in Africa’s most developed economy. He is currently on trial for corruptionalthough that case has been delayed for three years due to legal delays.
Since his resignation, he has been fiercely critical of President Cyril Ramaphosa, his successor as head of the country and the ANC.
Next month’s elections could be the most important since the ANC came to power at the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation in 1994. Numerous polls and analysts predict that the ANC could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time amid growing discontent and be forced to form a coalition to remain in government.
Despite his legal troubles, Zuma remains popular in some parts of South Africa and his new MK party is expected to capture some of the ANC’s vote if he is allowed to stand following the new allegations against him.
The MK Party will likely be disqualified from the elections if it is found to have forged signatures.
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