Jacob Zuma’s nine lives: How South Africa’s ex-president keeps coming back

Zuma has survived a series of political setbacks and legal challenges. Now he’s challenging President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In March, South Africa’s electoral commission barred former president Jacob Zuma from running as a parliamentary candidate in next month’s general elections due to a previous criminal conviction which rendered him ineligible under the law.

However, just days later, the Electoral Court declared that Zuma was eligible to run, overturning the commission’s rule to the likely dismay of the governing African National Congress (ANC).

It was only the latest twist in 82-year-old Zuma’s long and controversial political career.

Although Zuma led the ANC for years and was a two-time South African president, he is now going up against his former party under the banner of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in the country’s most closely contested election since the first democratic vote 30 years ago.

Zuma’s comeback as a challenger to incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa’s hopes of a second term is not surprising, say analysts. Since 2005, Zuma has been hit with a barrage of court trials and political scandals that might have sunk many politicians. But he has bounced back each time, his “grassroots” approach helping him keep a loyal follower base intact.