Presidential Press and Information… et al. · CC BY 4.0

Jacob Zuma

April 12, 1942

South African politician who was President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018, when corruption allegations forced his resignation.

Who else was alive Wikipedia

Biography

Jacob Zuma was born on 12 April 1942 in Nkandla, in what is now KwaZulu-Natal. He joined the African National Congress in 1959 and its armed wing, uMkhonto weSizwe, and spent ten years as a political prisoner on Robben Island. He went into exile in 1975 and eventually headed the ANC's intelligence department.

After the ANC was unbanned in 1990 he rose quickly through its leadership, becoming deputy secretary-general in 1991, national chairperson in 1994 and deputy president in 1997. He served as deputy president of South Africa under Thabo Mbeki from 1999 until Mbeki dismissed him in 2005, after his financial adviser was convicted of corruption linked to the Arms Deal. He was acquitted of rape in 2006 and in December 2007 defeated Mbeki for the ANC presidency at Polokwane.

Zuma became president of South Africa after the 2009 election. His government launched a large infrastructure programme and South Africa joined the BRICS group, but his second term was dominated by scandal, including the Public Protector's finding on spending at his Nkandla home, a 2016 Constitutional Court ruling against him, and allegations of state capture by the Gupta family. Recalled by the ANC, he resigned on 14 February 2018.

In 2021 the Constitutional Court jailed him for contempt after he refused to testify before the Zondo Commission. He later broke with the ANC, backed the new uMkhonto weSizwe Party from December 2023, and was expelled from the ANC in 2024.