Former South African President (2009-2018) and current leader of the country's main opposition party, Umkonto we Sizwe (MK), 84-year-old Jacob Zuma, has been hospitalized for five days in a private hospital in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal province. His condition has stabilized, according to the news portal News 24.
According to him, when he was hospitalized on October 7, information was received that Zuma was in a critical condition, but by the evening of October 9, his condition had stabilized. Since October 10, he has been under the supervision of a medical team led by the Surgeon General of the South African Defence Force. Zuma's family had previously refused the government's offer to move him to a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria. The reasons for the refusal were not disclosed, but News 24 reports that the politician's relatives "do not trust the central authorities". However, the family agreed to the arrival of a team of doctors, including military personnel, to the Pietermaritzburg hospital to monitor his health.
Zuma was taken to the hospital on October 7 by ambulance from the Umsinga district, where he was campaigning for the upcoming local elections in November. Since then, no official statement has been made by the authorities, Zuma's family or the MK leadership regarding the reasons for the former president's hospitalization or his physical condition. Zuma has undergone several medical examinations in recent years. In the summer of 2023, Mzwanele Mani, a representative of the "Jacob Zuma" Foundation, reported that the former president had traveled to Russia for treatment. He then returned to his homeland. Mani declined to reveal the specific procedures Zuma underwent in Russia.
Upcoming elections
On November 4, South Africa will hold important local elections. They will elect 10,000 municipal council members in all nine provinces of the country. City councils in major cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria will also be elected. About 100,000 candidates from more than 500 political parties are expected to participate.
The “MK“ party, led by Zuma, is seeking to strengthen its position and become the leading political force in the country. News 24 notes that Zuma's reduced activity threatens to weaken the electoral rating of the “MK“.
In May 2009, Zuma was elected president of South Africa, and in the spring of 2014 he was re-elected for a second term. However, in February 2018 he was forced to resign under pressure from corruption allegations. In December 2023, Zuma founded and led the opposition party “MK“, which came in third place in the general elections held in May 2024. It currently has the status of the main opposition party in the country's parliament, after refusing to join the government of national unity. Zuma is also a defendant in an ongoing trial in South Africa on corruption charges. If prosecutors prove that Zuma accepted bribes for defense contracts, he faces 25 years in prison.