South Africa's ANC severs ties with ex-President Jacob Zuma

The governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress, announced Monday the expulsion of former South African President Jacob Zuma.

The ANC called Zuma a traitor after he formed an opposition party that dealt in what it called "dangerous rhetoric in an effort to take down the party he once led," The New York Times reports.

"His platform is dangerous, appeals to extremist instincts in our body politic and riles up a political base that may foment social unrest," ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said during a press conference.

Zuma, who enjoyed acclaim as an anti-apartheid activist, reportedly found himself at odds with the party since being forced to resign as president in 2018 amid a series of corruption scandals.

Zuma's opposition party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), embraced a "populist brand of grievance politics" in the country's 2024 national election, according to the newspaper. MK promised to seize white-owned land and to overhaul the South African constitution.

MK had a strong showing, which kept ANC from winning a majority. ANC had held a majority for roughly 30 years ago, since the end of apartheid.

Despite MK's strong showing, Zuma claimed ANC rigged the election.

MK is the leading opposition party in South Africa, with 58 out of 400 parliamentary seats. MK's commanding position has forced ANC to ally itself with rival parties to form a coalition government.