By Jabez Yakah (International Journalist and Writer)
South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma was on Thursday night involved in a car crash. The accident occurred at about 18:40 local time at his home province KwaZulu-Natal, but no injuries were sustained.
Zuma, 81, and his bodyguards escaped uninjured.
According to reports by the police, the driver in the incoming vehicle that crashed into the former president’s official state car was drunk. The drunk driver has been arrested for reckless drunk driving.
The crash coincides with him (Zuma) being barred from the upcoming election due to a previous jail sentence. And officials of Zuma’s party, Umkhonto weSizwe (abbreviated as MK) claim that it was a deliberate attempt on his life. The incident is said to have happened hours after electoral officials barred Zuma from standing in the May 29 general elections.
The 51-year-old driver who crashed into Zuma’s car was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal province “for drunken driving, and is currently on a charge of reckless and negligent driving”, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said on Friday. He is to appear in court on Tuesday April 2, 2024.
The former president, Jacob Zuma suspended by the African National Congress (ANC), is campaigning for MK before May’s election.
Zuma, 81, served as president from 2009 to 2018 amidst corruption allegations.
The veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been campaigning for the recently formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) (Spear of the Nation) party in an attempt to relaunch his career after he was previously jailed for contempt of court in 2021.
Zuma’s tenure it is alleged, ended in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations when incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa replaced him, but he still wields political clout.
Opinion polls hint ANC’s vote might dip below 50% for the first time in 30 years and MK’s influence, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, could impact ANC’s support in this year’s elections.
“The police minister who is responsible for the former president’s protection unit it is alleged, has not upgraded his vehicle for eight years and he is the same person that has previously uttered messages around burying Zuma,” Ndhlela told the AFP news agency.
In Ndlela’s words: “There is underhand at play here,”. He is alleging that Zuma’s car was specifically targeted in the motorcade.
Political tensions are running high in the lead-up to the elections, in which the ANC is on the brink of dropping below 50 percent of the vote for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid in 1994.
The party is bleeding support amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Source: www.africanews.com , www.aljazeera.com
