Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a former anti-apartheid activist, member of uMkhonto weSizwe, and president of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2017.
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Congress (ANC), she currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Limpopo.
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC).
South African politician Jacob Zuma – later the President of South Africa – was charged with rape on 6 December 2005. He was prosecuted in the Johannesburg High Court between March and May 2006. On 8 May, the Court dismissed the charges, agreeing with Zuma that the sex act in question had been consensual. During the trial, Zuma admitted to having unprotected sex with his accuser, whom he knew to be HIV-positive, but memorably claimed that he took a shower afterwards to reduce his risk of contracting HIV.
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.
Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande is a South African politician, sociologist, and former anti-apartheid activist who is currently serving as Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. A cabinet minister since 2009, Nzimande was the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party from 1998 to 2022.
Derek Andre Hanekom is a South African retired politician, activist and former cabinet minister currently serving as the interim Chairman of South African Airways.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. Corruption was at its highest during the period of state capture under the presidency of Jacob Zuma and has remained widespread, negatively "affecting criminal justice, service provision, economic opportunity, social cohesion and political integrity" in South Africa.
Bhekokwakhe "Bheki" Hamilton Cele was the South African Minister of Police from February 2018 to 17 June 2024. He was National Commissioner of the South African Police Service for two years, until misconduct allegations led to his suspension in October 2011 and removal in June 2012. He has also served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council, and in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature. He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, and was imprisoned on Robben Island during apartheid.
Sisi Virginia Khampepe is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa between October 2009 and October 2021. Formerly a prominent labour lawyer, she joined the bench in December 2000 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division. She was also a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
2015 in South Africa saw a number of social and political protests and movements form. At President Jacob Zuma's 2015 State of the Nation Address, the president was interrupted by an opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, who demanded that he pay back the money used on his Nkandla homestead. South Africa also saw new xenophobic uprisings taking place, mainly targeted towards Africans from other countries. Foreigners were beaten, robbed and murdered during the attacks. The social protest Rhodes Must Fall started in 2015 at the University of Cape Town to protest for the removal of statues erected in South Africa during the colonial era depicting some of the well known colonists who settled in South Africa. In education, South Africa recorded a drop in its matric pass rate from 2013 to 2014. The protest #FeesMustFall was started towards the end of the year and achieved its primary goal of stopping an increase in university fees for 2016. South Africa also saw the discovery of Homo naledi in 2015. The South African national rugby union team came third in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Trevor Noah started hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
The Gupta family is a wealthy and influential business family from India, with close ties to former South African President Jacob Zuma and his administration. The family's most notable members are the brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol.
Duduzane Zuma is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.
Mathume Joseph Phaahla is a South African politician who served as the Minister of Health from August 2021 until the elections of 29 May 2024. He was formerly the Deputy Minister of Health from May 2014 to August 2021, and on 30 June 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa reappointed back to Deputy Minister of Health. He had been a deputy minister since May 2009, when he joined the National Assembly. He is also a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, was a public inquiry established in January 2018 by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud in the public sector in South Africa.
Events in the year 2021 in South Africa.
The 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 to 18 July 2021, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court. Resulting protests against the incarceration triggered wider rioting and looting, much of it said to be undertaken by people not in support of Zuma and fuelled by job layoffs and economic inequality worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic policies. The unrest began in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on the evening of 9 July, and spread to the province of Gauteng on the evening of 11 July, and was the worst violence that South Africa had experienced since the end of Apartheid.
Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, is currently facing criminal charges relating to alleged corruption in the 1999 Arms Deal. He was first indicted on the charges in June 2005, but attempts to prosecute him have been beset by legal challenges and political controversy. He is currently charged with two counts of corruption, one count each of racketeering and money laundering, and twelve counts of fraud, all arising from his receipt of 783 payments which the state alleges were bribes from businessman Schabir Shaik and French arms company Thales.
The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) was an auxiliary political organisation affiliated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). It was founded in 1996 to represent the interests of individuals who had participated in the armed struggle against apartheid as members of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the ANC's armed wing. Although its relationship to the ANC and MK was not formally or legally codified, the organisation received a degree of de facto recognition both from the ANC and from the ANC-led government.
Jacob Zuma, the former President of South Africa, was imprisoned on 7 July 2021 following a finding by the Constitutional Court of South Africa that he was guilty of contempt of court. The charges originated in Zuma's refusal to provide testimony to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's judicial commission of inquiry into alleged state capture. During 2021, the Constitutional Court handed down three related decisions.
