South Africa: Former President Zuma Concerned in Automotive Crash

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has been concerned in a automobile crash in a single day after a automobile transporting him was hit by a drunk driver, police mentioned on Friday.

Zuma, nonetheless, escaped from the accident unharmed.

The automobile crash occurred simply hours after electoral officers barred Zuma from standing within the Might 29 basic election, additional stoking tensions within the run-up to the polls.

The driving force’s automobile “collided with former president Mr Jacob Zuma’s official armoured state automobile”, the South African Police Service (SAPS) mentioned.

The 51-year-old man was arrested in KwaZulu Natal province “for drunken driving, in addition to on a cost of reckless and negligent driving”, SAPS mentioned.

Zuma and his bodyguards escaped unhurt and the 81-year-old was taken to his place of residence.

Zuma, a former veteran of the ruling African Nationwide Congress (ANC), was pressured out of workplace in 2018 below a cloud of corruption allegations however nonetheless wields political clout.

In December he introduced he could be campaigning for the opposition uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) occasion in an try and relaunch his profession — a significant blow to the ANC.

On Wednesday the ANC launched a brand new courtroom utility in opposition to MK, after dropping an preliminary bid to have it disqualified.

The ANC says that MK’s title and emblem are just like these of the now disbanded apartheid-era navy wing of the ANC as soon as led by Nelson Mandela, and that this might deceive or confuse voters.

– Conspiracy theories –

MK’s spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela alleged the automobile collision was not a coincidence.

“The police minister who’s accountable for the previous president’s safety unit has not upgraded his automobile for eight years and he is identical individual that has beforehand uttered messages round burying Zuma,” Ndhlela instructed AFP.

“There’s underhand at play right here,” he mentioned, alleging that Zuma’s automobile was particularly focused within the motorcade.

Political tensions are working excessive within the lead-up to the polls, by which the ANC is getting ready to dropping under 50 p.c of the vote for the primary time because it got here to energy on the finish of apartheid in 1994.

The occasion is bleeding assist amid a weak financial system and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Zuma’s automobile accident, two months earlier than the vote, has been sparked conspiracy theories throughout social media.

The driving force of the opposite automobile is predicted to seem in courtroom on Tuesday.

When requested how Zuma was, Ndhlela instructed AFP: “He’s in excessive spirits as at all times and was in laughter this morning in regards to the accident.

“But it surely doesn’t imply he took it frivolously (or that) he isn’t conscious of what is occurring.”

“Mr Zuma is in church at the moment praying that the satan doesn’t come into MK,” referring to the ANC.