Zuma, Jacob

Young years

Jacob Zuma was born on April 12, 1942 in Incandla , KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa . Belongs to the Zulu people.

His father was a policeman and died when Zuma was a child. His mother was a housekeeper ^[3] . He did not receive formal school education ^[4] . He has two brothers - Michael and Joseph ^[5] .

In 1959 he joined the African National Congress , in 1963 - in the South African Communist Party ^[6] .

From 1975 to 1990 , like most ANC members, he was in exile in Swaziland , Mozambique and Zambia . One of the first to return to the country when the ban on the ANC was lifted.

The author of many scandalous statements regarding, in particular, same - sex marriage and teenage pregnancy . Zuma was also charged with rape in 2005 and corruption . Zuma was acquitted by the court on all charges, although his supporters were accused of pressure on the court, including the organization of rallies and demonstrations around the courthouse ^[7] .

President of South Africa

First Term

On May 6, 2009, with the 277 votes of the members of the National Assembly, he was elected the fourth President of South Africa since the fall of the apartheid regime.

On March 18, 2010, at the National Assembly, deputies from the opposition party Congress of the People raised the issue of a vote of no confidence in President Zuma. They were supported by the country's largest opposition force, the Democratic Alliance . The reason was the information about Zuma having an illegitimate child. In addition, the president was accused of undeclared income on time. As a result of the vote, a vote of no confidence among the 400 members of the National Assembly was supported only by 84 deputies with 241 votes against, another 75 deputies abstained or were absent ^[8] .

Second Term

On May 21, 2014, Jacob Zuma was elected for a second five-year term at the first meeting of the new National Assembly after the May 7 parliamentary elections, in which the African National Congress received more than 62% of the vote and 249 seats in the 400-seat chamber. Since Zuma was the only candidate, no vote was taken. Chief Justice Mohoeng Mohoeng, who chaired the first meeting of the chamber, said:

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telegram congratulated Zuma on his re-election, noting the friendly nature of relations between Russia and South Africa, said that he looked forward to continued constructive cooperation and, thanking Zuma for the invitation to the inauguration ceremony, added that the Russian delegation would be headed by the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament Sergey Naryshkin ^[10] .

On May 24, at the Presidential Palace in Pretoria, Jacob Zuma was sworn in for a second term. The inauguration ceremony was attended by about 4 thousand guests, including the delegation of Russia , India and China . The USA and Great Britain refrained from sending their representatives ^[11] . In his inaugural address, Zuma said that “we will continue to work in forums such as BRICS to make the world more honest and fair” ^[12] , swearing to be the guarantor of the constitution and law, to make every effort to improve the lives of the people of South Africa and protect the territory country. After the inauguration, he said that the new government will focus on economic development and infrastructure construction projects in order to create a large number of new jobs ^[13] .

On May 25, Jacob Zuma appointed Cyril Ramafos to the post of vice president of South Africa and announced the list of the new government, saying that there were new ministries of communications and mail, the ministry of water and sanitation and the ministry of small business development. A total of 35 ministerial posts in the government ^[14] .

On June 7, Jacob Zuma was hospitalized for an examination, since according to the ANC, “the president should take a break,” after which the president’s office said that “the doctors are satisfied with the state of the president” ^[15] .

On March 17, 2015, deputies of the Democratic Alliance initiated a vote on a vote of no confidence in Zume, accusing the president of “politicizing” and reducing the efficiency of state institutions, increasing corruption and a general slowdown in the country's economic development. The opposition also appealed to the scandal with the misuse of budget funds spent by Zuma on the reconstruction of his private residence in the village of Nkandla. According to a report published in the spring of 2014 by public defender Tuli Madoncela, under the pretext of updating the security system on the estate, a number of personal facilities were built for a total of 246 million rand ($ 16 million), including a visitor center, a private clinic, a swimming pool and a cattle corral. Only 113 deputies voted for Zuma’s resignation, 221 against.

On September 1, 2015, the Democratic Alliance again called on parliament to vote on the removal of the president from office on the basis of Art. 89 of the Constitution in connection with a “serious violation of national law”. Thus, the opposition qualified the authorities’ refusal to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir , who visited South Africa in June 2015 to attend the African Union summit. In 2009, an al-Bashir arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court , whose jurisdiction is recognized by South Africa. In June 2015, the Northern High Court of Hauten Province issued a decision . However, at the end of the summit, the President of Sudan freely left South Africa. The leadership of the Democratic Alliance accused Zuma of sabotaging the court decision. Supporters of the president during the debate reproached the opposition for the "lack of African solidarity" and referred to the legal immunity of al-Bashir as the incumbent head of state. According to the results of voting, only 100 deputies spoke out for the early termination of Zuma’s powers, against 211.

On March 1, 2016, the Democratic Alliance made a third attempt to pass a vote of no confidence in the president. This time it was a question of 783 episodes of corruption, extortion and fraud, allegedly committed by him as vice president during the conclusion of state contracts for the purchase of weapons in 1999-2005. In April 2009, the case against Zuma was closed for lack of evidence, but in February 2016 the Democratic Alliance appealed to the Pretoria High Court with a request to resume the investigation, since the prosecutor Mokotedi Mpsche, who decided to close the case, could be pressured. On April 29, the lawsuit was granted - the investigation continued. The issue of spending on the reconstruction of the Zuma estate in Nkandle was also raised again. The president in response to the allegations said that he was ready to compensate for the money spent only at the request of the Minister for Police Affairs, Nati Nhleko, responsible for the “key facilities”. Nhleko, in turn, supported the president. Only 99 deputies voted for the removal of Zuma from office during the vote, 225 against, 225 abstained.

On April 5, 2016, a new attempt to remove Jacob Zuma from office under Art. 89 was again provoked by the scandal surrounding the residence in Nkandle. This time, the Fighters for Economic Freedom appealed to the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The court recognized the requirements of the public defender as legal to return to the treasury funds spent by Zuma. On April 1, the president gave a speech on national television, asking for forgiveness and promising to comply with the requirements of the court. Nevertheless, the parliamentary opposition was not satisfied with the apologies made and called for the early termination of his powers. In addition to the Democratic Alliance, other opposition parties supported the demand for resignation. The ANC deputies, however, considered that after the apology the president had apologized for, the incident was over, and called the attempt to remove him from office "an imperialist conspiracy." As a result of the vote, 233 deputies supported Zuma, 143 supported the impeachment.

On November 10, 2016, eight days after the publication of a new report by the public defender State of Capture, the Democratic Alliance initiated a vote of no confidence for the fourth time. The document, which provoked a wide public outcry, presented the facts of the president’s ties with the family of Indian businessmen Gupta living in South Africa, as well as their influence on the economic and personnel policies of the South African government. Zuma himself denied the charges. Despite the fact that this time some members of the ruling ANC criticized him in addition to the opposition, at a vote in parliament, supporters of impeachment were again in the minority - 126 against 214.

For the seventh time, the South African opposition was prompted to seek early termination of the presidency of Jacob Zuma by the rearrangements he made in the government on March 27, 2017. Among the five ministers who lost their posts was Finance Minister Pravin Gordan, an authoritative member of the Communist Party in conflict with the Gupta clan. According to press reports, the head of state considered him responsible for blocking the economic reform policy, which provides for the transfer of control over the economy from "monopoly white capital" to black entrepreneurs and the redistribution of land ownership in their favor.

The Democratic Alliance, Fighters for Economic Freedom, and the United Democratic Movement, which initiated the vote, are hoping to win over members of the African National Congress and its parliamentary coalition allies displeased with Zuma. Criticism of the president has repeatedly sounded in the ranks of the ANC, but at a meeting of the party’s executive committee, which was held behind closed doors on May 27, most of its members opposed the early deprivation of his presidential powers.

The opposition appealed to the Constitutional Court of South Africa with a demand for a secret ballot, which provides an opportunity for deputies of the ruling majority to violate party discipline. On June 22, the Constitutional Court ruled that the rules of the National Assembly give Speaker Baleka Mbeta (representative of the ANC) “enough authority” to declare a secret ballot ^[8] .

On December 29, 2017, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the country's parliament did not comply with the constitutional order to prevent the president from violating laws. According to the judges, the deputies of the lower house should have removed President Zuma from power after the facts of corruption on his part were revealed. Chris Jaft, a judge of the Constitutional Court, said: “The National Assembly simply discussed the issue of resignation and voted, but it did not take all the measures provided for by the constitution for such cases.” The opposition welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court. The Secretary-General of the opposition Fighters for Economic Freedom, Godrich Hardy, said: “We are very pleased. How long Zuma holds power will depend on the speaker and the ruling party. We hope that not everything is lost and that they will still wake up conscience and common sense ” ^[16] .

Retirement

On February 13, 2018, ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule handed Zuma a letter of resignation. It became known on the eve that the party put forward an ultimatum to the president, demanding that he independently resign within two days. Zuma rejected this ultimatum, wishing to remain in this post for another three months, but the party’s executive committee rejected Zuma’s request ^[17] .

On February 14, Zuma announced his resignation. Acting President became Vice President Cyril Ramafosa ^{[18] [19]} .

In March 2018, Zuma was charged with corruption, extortion, and money laundering. This was announced by the head of the National Office of Prosecution of South Africa, Sean Ebrahams ^[20] .

Speaking Against Gays

Zuma criticized homosexual groups on September 24, 2006 during the Heritage Day national holiday, saying that same-sex marriage is “a shame for the nation and God,” and that in his youth he would not have tolerated the homosexual in front of him, sending him immediately knockout ^[21] . Subsequently, after the protests, he apologized to those who were offended by his statement, saying that he respects the contribution of homosexuals and lesbians to the struggle for the freedom of South Africa and the role that they continue to play in creating a successful non-racist, non-discriminatory South Africa ^[22] .

Statements about teenage pregnancy

Regarding the increasing teenage pregnancy, Zuma said that children should be taken from young mothers, and they should be sent to school and forced to receive an education ^{[23] [24]} , as well as the need to ensure the availability of condoms in all establishments.

Notes on Afrikaners

Speaking at the Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg (which he claimed was not for campaign purposes), Zuma said:

Of all the white groups in South Africa, only Afrikaners are real South Africans in the true sense of the word. They still do not hold two passports, only one. They are here forever.

Original text

Of all the white groups that are in South Africa, it is only the Afrikaners that are truly South Africans in the true sense of the word. Up to this day, they don't carry two passports; they carry one. They are here to stay.

- http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-04-03-zuma-only-the-afrikaners-who-are-truly-south-africans

Jacob Zuma is a polygamist and the first president of South Africa to officially declare his commitment to the Zulu tradition of polygamy, he has 8 wives (5 of them are official). The first time Jacob Zuma married Gertrude Sisakel Hualo in 1973, shortly after his release from prison, where he was imprisoned for fighting against the apartheid regime. Subsequently, he married Kate Zuma, who died in 2000, then - on Nkosazan Dlamini-Zuma (he later divorced her, she became Minister of Foreign Affairs , after which she held the post of Minister of Internal Affairs). With his fourth wife, Nompumelo Ntuli, he married in 2007. The penultimate time of Jacob Zuma was married on January 4, 2010 with Tobeka Madiba. On April 20, 2012, Zuma married Gloria Bongi Ngema. It is reported that he has 18 own children ^[25] .

• Желтов М. В. ЮАР: «Удар в спину» или «Доколе, Зума, ты будешь испытывать наше терпение?» (неопр.) . ИнтерИзбирком. Аналитический портал о выборах в мире (28 июня 2018). Дата обращения 28 июня 2018.