FORMER South African president Jacob Zuma has denounced the governing African National Congress (ANC) and vowed to vote for a new political formation in next year’s general election.

Mr Zuma, who led the ANC from 2007 to 2017, said on Saturday that he was backing the newly formed Umkhonto we Sizwe party, which is named after the ANC military wing that was disbanded after the liberation struggle ended in victory.

The former president called on other South Africans to vote for the new formation, claiming that it would be “a betrayal to vote for the ANC” of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Even former president Thabo Mbeki said in an interview on Saturday that his “answer was still outstanding” when asked if he would encourage people to vote ANC in next year’s general election.

Recent polls have suggested that the ANC could win less than 50 per cent of the national vote  for the first time and may need to form a coalition government to remain in power.

Mr Zuma described the ANC and Mr Ramaphosa as a “proxy for white monopoly capital” and claimed that his decision was part of a bid to rescue the ANC.

“I have decided that I cannot and will not campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa in 2024. My conscience will not allow me to lie to the people of South Africa and to pretend that the ANC of Ramaphosa is the ANC of Luthuli, Tambo and Mandela,” said Mr Zuma, referring to previous ANC leaders Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela.

But former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein told the Morning Star he did not expect Mr Zuma’s endorsement of the Umkhonto we Sizwe party to have much impact. 

“Amidst the failings of the ANC to govern in a competent, accountable and non-corrupt manner, dozens of small parties have sprung up,” he said.

“The key issue is whether they will deprive the ANC of a majority for the first time in the country’s democratic history.” 

“The biggest challenge will be to get people to the polls as disaffection with not just the ANC but politics generally takes hold,” Mr Feinstein added.

Mr Zuma was ousted as president in 2018 and replaced by Mr Ramaphosa amid wide-ranging allegations of corruption in government and state-owned companies during his time in office, which began in 2009.

The ANC indicated this week that it would take legal action over the use of the name Umkhonto we Sizwe because it belonged to the existing party.