The former South African president Jacob Zuma, who was forced out of office over corruption allegations, has said he will not vote for the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) in the 2024 national elections. Zuma, 81, criticised the president and ANC leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. The ANC, which led the decades-old struggle against apartheid, is fast losing support. Zuma said he would vote for a small radical leftwing party and would refuse to campaign for the ANC. “It would be a betrayal to campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa,” he said in a statement read at a press conference. Zuma condemned what he called “the death of democratically elected structures”, “the role of money” in determining votes, and “the suspected fraudulent manipulation” of ANC conference decisions. He said it was “widely expected that the ANC will lose the national election for the first time since 1994”. Zuma said he would vote for the small Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, which was registered this year and is named after the old armed wing of the ANC. Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, was driven out of office over corruption accusations. Ramaphosa, his deputy at the time, took over. Despite the controversy, Zuma has retained significant influence in the party. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel investigating financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency – but he was freed on medical parole two months into his term. His imprisonment sparked protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 people dead in the country’s worst violence since the end of apartheid. The ANC is expected to face fierce electoral competition from the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters, but smaller parties and independent candidates could be crucial in case of coalition negotiations. The ANC indicated this week that it would legally challenge the use of the name Umkhonto we Sizwe, which it said belonged to the party.