Former South African president Jacob Zuma has launched a legal assault against the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa, branding his expulsion a “political witch-hunt” aimed at silencing dissent against a party “stolen by white capital”.
In a 316-page Johannesburg High Court submission that Sunday World obtained, the 83-year-old liberation stalwart declares, “I practically grew up as a member of the ANC for my entire adult life” – and made it clear that he’s not leaving without a fight.
Zuma’s affidavit reads like a thunderclap. He claims his expulsion last November was not just unjust but a purge orchestrated to silence dissent.
His 66-year membership was terminated for “political reasons”, not discipline, he argued.
He paints a portrait of an ANC hijacked by “neo-apartheid forces”, where due process is sacrificed for factional purges.
His central thesis is that his support for the breakaway MK Party was not betrayal – it was a rescue mission for the soul of the movement.
“The conduct for which I was suspended, charged, tried and expelled is clearly and mainly political in nature.
“It was performed in the proper exercise of my political and associational rights … I had accepted [the] responsibility to rescue the real ANC from the un-ANC behaviour of the fake ANC of Ramaphosa.”
Zuma alleges the ANC’s 2017 leadership conference – where Ramaphosa became president – was “stolen or bought by white capital”.
“The ‘Nasrec’ conference had been stolen… for a large amount of anything between R300 million and R1 billion.
“The purpose was to ensure Cyril Ramaphosa… would emerge as president… to change [the ANC’s] character in favour of neo-apartheid forces.”
He ties this directly to Ramaphosa’s CR17 ANC presidential campaign funds.
“Ramaphosa admitted under oath that at least R300 million was paid by big business. But for the surreptitious intervention of Big Business, the ANC of Ramaphosa would never have seen the light of day.”
Zuma seethes at Ramaphosa’s 2020 declaration that the ANC was “Accused Number 1” in corruption. He calls it a betrayal.
“What Cyril Ramaphosa was falsely accusing the ANC of is serious criminal and treasonable conduct … To condemn the ANC itself, and by extension, its close to one million members in such conduct is false and politically suicidal.”
Why form a new party? Zuma insists it was a last resort to save the ANC’s soul.
“I felt it necessary … to rescue the real ANC … on behalf of millions of ANC members and supporters who felt the same way. I had accepted this responsibility.”
Thus, in December 2023, he announced the launch of MK.
“My conduct was always informed by the desire to hold the ANC accountable. Instead of addressing my concerns… the ANC elected to unlawfully invoke disciplinary measures.”
Zuma also links his 2021 imprisonment to the ANC’s silence.
“The ANC never condemned my apartheid-style detention without trial. The legitimacy of my expectations of protection from my own organisation was violated.”
Zuma dismantles the disciplinary process step by step. He calls virtual hearings “practically impossible” for an 83-year-old rural dweller, accuses secretary-general Fikile Mbalula of intimidation, and brands the verdict “predetermined”.
“The NDC unlawfully succumbed to undue pressure … The ruling was legally deficient in substance and form. The NDCA failed to furnish reasons for dismissing my appeal, a basic violation of fairness.”
Zuma warns the ANC is “digging its own grave” by allying with “reactionary forces” like the DA, saying, “The unholy alliance between the ANC of Ramaphosa and the DA/Freedom Front axis is a total betrayal.
“The founders of the ANC must be turning in their graves.”
He ties his expulsion to the ANC’s historic 2024 election collapse, pointing out that the ANC massively dropped support in all 10 elections and describing it as “an electoral massacre”.
He said the ANC’s temptation to reduce this to the alleged misdemeanour of one individual is “burying its head in the sand”.
Zuma’s closing is visceral: I am an adult male and an illegally expelled member of the ANC … I practically grew up as a member of the ANC for my entire adult life.
This expulsion assaults my dignity, my rights, and the Constitution itself.”
