The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has published the final candidate list for the 2024 general election.
Former president Jacob Zuma tops the list of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party after it won its court case against the IEC’s decision to bar him from being a candidate to parliament.
Other notable names on the MK list include party founder Jabulani Khumalo and Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, in second and 18th places, respectively.
The electoral court ruling brings Zuma closer to his ambition to return to the Union Buildings. He told MK party supporters outside the high court in Johannesburg on Monday that if elected he would return to the presidential seat, which he occupied for nine years up to 2018 before the ANC asked him to resign.
“Over and above that, I was in government as a member of the ANC, and I have never heard them say that once you have left the ANC and started your own party, you have no right to be that party’s president,” he said.
The court ruling in favour of the MK party also “highlights the nuances of president Zuma’s legal situation, clarifying the distinction between the nature of his sentencing and the criteria for parliamentary candidacy”, the MK party said after the ruling.
The IEC argued the former president is ineligible to stand as a candidate because of his criminal record stemming from his conviction and 15-month prison sentence imposed by the Constitutional Court in 2021.
Zuma’s party may become the country’s third opposition, ousting the EFF, as it may garner 13% support, according to the latest poll published by Social Research Foundation. The poll also estimates ANC support will plunge to 37% and DA support will reach 25%. The poll, released on Wednesday, was conducted with a sample size of 1,835 registered voters and has margin of error of 2.2%.
The poll does not consider potential support for independent candidates, who are permitted for the first time to participate in the May 29 polls.
Six independent candidates will contest for seats in the National Assembly and six will contest the provincial legislature elections. They include former COPE youth leader Anele Mda, who is on the candidate list for Gauteng; civil rights activist Zackie Achmat, who appears on the Western Cape list; and the president of the Mining Forum of SA, Lehlohonolo Blessings Ramoba, who is on both the Limpopo and Gauteng lists.
The National Assembly is made up of 400 seats, 200 of which are contested only by political parties. Independent candidates can contest only half of the seats in the National Assembly.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.