South Africa’s highest court has barred former President Jacob Zuma from running for parliament in next week’s general election.
The Constitutional Court ruled that his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court disqualified him.
Mr Zuma was convicted in 2021 for refusing to testify at an inquiry investigating corruption during his presidency which ended in 2018.
He has been campaigning under the banner of the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party after falling out with the governing African National Congress (ANC).
MK secretary general Sihle Ngubane said the party was disappointed with the ruling, but it would not affect the party’s campaign and Mr Zuma’s face would remain on the ballot paper for the 29 May election.
“He is still the leader of the party. It [the judgment] doesn’t affect our campaign at all,” he said.
South Africans vote for political parties, with the candidates at the top of their lists getting parliamentary seats depending on the number of votes the party gets.
Some MK members sang and danced outside the court portraying Mr Zuma as a victim, while those inside the court – some dressed in traditional Zulu regalia – sat silently as the judgement was handed down by Justice Leona Theron on behalf of the court.
Mr Zuma has not yet commented on the ruling.
His supporters rioted after he was sent to jail in 2021, and some of its leaders had threatened violence if the court disqualified him from standing for parliament.
-BBC-