Jacob Zuma the Disruptor Has South Africa’s Fate In His Hands After Vote
- Governing ANC hemorrhaged support to Zuma’s party in election
- Zuma is major factor in first coalition talks in 30 years
Jacob Zuma at the Independent Electoral Commission national results center in Midrand, June 1.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Jacob Zuma, who led South Africa for almost nine scandal-tainted years before being ousted by the governing African National Congress, may now play a major role in the country’s political future.
Six years after being pushed from office, Zuma successfully upstaged his successor Cyril Ramaphosa in national elections this week, eating into the ANC’s support with his new uMkhonto weSizwe Party. The 82-year-old was feted by jubilant supporters as he walked into the electoral results center north of Johannesburg late Saturday, telling the audience his party’s rise shows “how people are angry.”