South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma leads a press conference in Johannesburg on June 16, two days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected for a second term after his humbled ANC cobbled together an unprecedented coalition government.PHILL MAGAKOE/Getty Images
As South Africa moves into an era of coalitions and power-sharing deals, former president Jacob Zuma and his pugnacious supporters are emerging as the biggest threat to the country’s stability.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was sworn into office for a second term on Wednesday after negotiating a coalition with several opposition parties, used his inauguration speech to plead for a national dialogue to overcome the “toxic cleavages” in the country.
But the ceremony was boycotted by Mr. Zuma and his allies. His MK Party shocked the political establishment last month by finishing third in its first national election, just six months after Mr. Zuma revealed his leadership of the new party.
Mr. Zuma, borrowing tactics from former U.S. president Donald Trump, has refused to recognize the election results, alleging that the vote was rigged against him, although he has failed to produce any evidence. He has made the implausible claim that he won two-thirds of the votes, rather than the 15 per cent that the results showed.
The rise of MK has inflicted heavy damage on the long-ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has governed the country since the end of apartheid 30 years ago. Its vote total dropped by a stunning 17 percentage points in the latest election, tumbling to 40 per cent and leaving it dependent on a coalition deal to remain in office.
Mr. Zuma’s party has already made a failed attempt to block the election results. South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, swiftly rejected its application in a terse judgment this month, noting that the party had failed to produce any facts to support its complaint about the election results.
South Africa’s power-sharing deal
The African National Congress and its largest rival, the white-led,
pro-business Democratic Alliance, have agreed to work together
in South Africa’s new coalition government
African National
Congress (ANC)
President Cyril
Ramaphosa has
been re-elected
as president
Democratic
Alliance (DA)
Party leader John
Steenhuisen
says deal is
historic moment
159
87
Coalition government:
Includes ANC, DA,
IFP and PA
Inkatha Freedom
Party (IFP): Zulu
nationalist, socially
conservative
party
Patriotic Alliance (PA)
Right-wing party, wants
to deport illegal
immigrants
9
17
Other
parties
31
400
Seats in
National Assembly
uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Populist party led by former
President Jacob Zuma
Economic Freedom Fighters
(EFF): Promotes nationalisation
of banks and industries
58
39
graphic news, Sources: Reuters, BBC, National Assembly
Pictures: Getty Images
South Africa’s power-sharing deal
The African National Congress and its largest rival, the white-led,
pro-business Democratic Alliance, have agreed to work together
in South Africa’s new coalition government
African National
Congress (ANC)
President Cyril
Ramaphosa has
been re-elected
as president
Democratic
Alliance (DA)
Party leader John
Steenhuisen
says deal is
historic moment
159
87
Coalition government:
Includes ANC, DA,
IFP and PA
Inkatha Freedom
Party (IFP): Zulu
nationalist, socially
conservative
party
Patriotic Alliance (PA)
Right-wing party, wants
to deport illegal
immigrants
9
17
Other
parties
31
400
Seats in
National Assembly
uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Populist party led by former
President Jacob Zuma
Economic Freedom Fighters
(EFF): Promotes nationalisation
of banks and industries
58
39
graphic news, Sources: Reuters, BBC, National Assembly
Pictures: Getty Images
South Africa’s power-sharing deal
The African National Congress and its largest rival, the white-led,
pro-business Democratic Alliance, have agreed to work together
in South Africa’s new coalition government
African National
Congress (ANC)
President Cyril
Ramaphosa has
been re-elected
as president
Democratic
Alliance (DA)
Party leader John
Steenhuisen
says deal is
historic moment
159
87
Coalition government:
Includes ANC, DA,
IFP and PA
Inkatha Freedom
Party (IFP): Zulu
nationalist, socially
conservative
party
Patriotic Alliance (PA)
Right-wing party, wants
to deport illegal
immigrants
9
17
Other
parties
31
400
Seats in
National Assembly
uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Populist party led by former
President Jacob Zuma
Economic Freedom Fighters
(EFF): Promotes nationalisation
of banks and industries
39
58
graphic news, Sources: Reuters, BBC, National Assembly Pictures: Getty Images
But lurking behind the party’s allegations are its frequent threats of violence. In recent months, some of its top leaders have warned of “civil war” and “anarchy” if it is denied a two-thirds majority in the election.
It might not be an idle threat. Three years ago, when Mr. Zuma was briefly imprisoned on a contempt-of-court charge, his jailing triggered a wave of riots by his supporters, who looted and torched shops and other businesses across the country. More than 350 people were killed during the three days of chaos in July, 2021.
Mr. Zuma’s daughter, Dudu Zuma-Sambudla, a senior leader of the MK Party, was among those who applauded the arson attacks on social media at the time. Today she is heaping insults on Mr. Ramaphosa, calling him an “apartheid collaborator,” and demanding the arrest of a senior member of South Africa’s election commission.
The possibility of violence has so alarmed the South African government that it has deployed hundreds of extra police into Mr. Zuma’s traditional stronghold, the province of KwaZulu-Natal, to prevent any bloodshed in the region where the 2021 riots began.
Mr. Zuma’s party, named after the ANC’s former paramilitary wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), has launched a barrage of racially charged attacks on the emerging coalition government. This week, it accused Mr. Ramaphosa of being a “house negro” for white “slave masters” in the ANC’s coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance.
“We will fight to win back our country from the enemies of progress,” Mr. Zuma told a news conference last weekend.
Mr. Ramaphosa appealed for calm on Wednesday. He acknowledged that the country is still “highly polarized” and vulnerable to those who seek to inflame tensions. “There are toxic cleavages and an incipient social fragmentation that can easily turn into instability,” he said in his inauguration speech.
“The people of South Africa have stressed that they are impatient with political bickering and the endless blame game among politicians and political parties. We must reject every attempt to divide or distract us, to sow doubt or cynicism, or to turn us against one another.”
But it is clear that Mr. Zuma’s party will fight him at every step. The former president’s rhetoric is already provoking unrest. This week, at least 15 of his supporters tried to storm into an election-commission warehouse in Johannesburg, demanding access to the stored ballot papers. Police have opened an investigation, calling it a case of “intimidation.” In a similar incident last month, MK supporters broke into a ballot-storage site in KwaZulu-Natal, taking videos and falsely claiming that the ballots were premarked in the ANC’s favour.
Mr. Zuma’s party is vocally pro-Russia, with its leaders often praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some of his political opponents have alleged that his party’s election campaign was financed by Russia, although it has refused to disclose any of its funding sources.
In its election platform, the party called for the abolition of South Africa’s liberal constitution, transfer of power to traditional tribal leaders, nationalization of the resource sector, forced redistribution of land, withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, and a political alliance with Russia, Cuba and Palestine.