South Africa’s ruling party African National Congress (ANC) has suspended its former leader and ex-president Jacob Zuma from the party for indiscipline.
This comes more than a month after he announced his support for the newly-formed uMkhonto weSizwe party, which he is tirelessly campaigning for.
Zuma and ANC leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, are locked in a war of words ahead of the upcoming general elections whose dates are yet to be announced.
Zuma has claimed Ramaphosa is a Western spy and someone representing white monopoly capital interests, while Ramaphosa says Zuma has now become a counter-revolutionary fronting unprogressive right-wing forces.
ANC leaders also accuse Zuma of being divisive and trying to rule from the grave when his time is long gone.
The war of words between Zuma and ANC leaders is more aggressive and stinging in KwaZulu-Natal where the ANC has come out to combat the former president directly through its own bigwigs like Bheki Cele, Minister of Police, and Bheki Mtolo, party provincial secretary.
South Africa is currently at crossroads as the economy reels amid unemployment, crime and inequality, while the liberation movement in charge is fighting for political survival.
This has created cutthroat factional battles in the ANC and a new national struggle over the country’s future.
Newshawks
