Elections 2024: Watch as former president and MK Party leader Jacob Zuma votes in Nkandla
Former president and Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma voted at the Ntolwane Primary School polling station in Nkandla on Wednesday.
As Zuma, flanked by security personnel, got out of a black car, the crowd cheered and were ululating.
The former president, dressed in an MK Party-branded shirt and cap, made history on Wednesday, as the first and only former African National Congress (ANC) president to leave the ruling party in support of another party contesting the elections.
Zuma got out of the car and made his way through the cheering crowd straight into the voting station where he presented the official with his smart ID and got his left thumb marked.
Former president Jacob Zuma votes in his hometown Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal, a key election battleground, during the general election.
As Zuma was placing his ballots into the boxes, the crowd outside could be heard singing and cheering.
During a live broadcast on Newzroom Afrika, many voters said they were done voting, but were waiting to see Zuma.
Voting stations opened at 7am around the country as South Africans gear up to vote in the seventh democratic elections on Wednesday, 30 years since the fall of apartheid.
The network of 23,292 voting stations across the country opened at 7am and will be opened until 9pm. If you find yourself in the queues at 9pm, are eligible to vote but have not done so, the IEC said that you won’t be turned away and will be allowed to vote.
The new kid on South Africa’s political block, the MK Party was launched in December 2023 and has already emerged as a significant part of the country's political landscape.
The party was founded by Jabulani Khumalo. Khumalo was eventually ousted from the party in May this year. The party said the removal of Khumalo, Ray Khumalo, Bheki Manzini, Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson, was a move to "purify itself from rogue elements that would blur the lines to the two-thirds majority".
The MK Party has been involved in legal wrangles since its formation. First, with the use of the MK name and logo and then with Zuma’s eligibility to contest the elections.
Initially, the ANC, of which Zuma is still a card-carrying member, objected to the use of the Umkhonto weSizwe name and logo. Historically, ‘Umkhonto weSizwe’ is the ANC’s (now disbanded) military wing and was founded in 1961 by Nelson Mandela.
The ANC hauled Zuma and his party affiliates to court. However, the ruling party lost the battle in April. After winning round 1, the MK Party continued to campaign with Zuma in the leading role.
Zuma was back in court only days later to find out if the Electoral Court deemed him fit to stand as a MP.
Earlier in May, the Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma was, in fact, not eligible to stand as an MP.
IOL News