Eighty-one-year-old former South African leader, Jacob Zuma, who resigned after pressure from his previous party, the ruling African National Congress in 2018 when he faced allegations of corruption, is eligible to run as an opposition candidate in the parliamentary election scheduled for May. 

Mr Zuma a one-time member of the ANC in charge of the nation since apartheid ended 30 years ago, was cleared on Tuesday by a court to be on the ballot after the electoral commission restricted him from holding public office after his conviction of crime and sentencing to more than 12 months in prison.

He was sentenced to 15-month jail in 2021 for not testifying in a corruption inquiry; however, due to health issues, he was only incarcerated for three months.

Mr Zuma is now running his campaign with the newly formed opposition party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, named after the ANC’s former military wing.

This will be a curveball for the ruling ANC and its leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, while they battle to regain the confidence of voters let down by years of corruption and a stagnating economy. 

Opinion polls predict that ANC’s vote share could fall below 50 per cent.