Jacob Zuma

Zuma was born in Nkandla, Natal Province (now part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal),{{rp|1}} and often moved around Natal and the suburbs of Durban as a child.{{cite web|title=Biography of Jacob ZUMA|url=http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=420&lang=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710211106/http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=420&lang=en|archive-date=10 July 2012|access-date=18 October 2012|publisher=African Success}} His father, Nobhekisisa, was a policeman who died when Zuma was five,{{cite news|date=15 December 2017|title=The Trials of Jacob Zuma|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Trials_of_Jacob_Zuma|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216000456/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Trials_of_Jacob_Zuma|archive-date=16 December 2017}} and his mother, Geinamazwi, was a domestic worker.{{cite book |last=Gordin |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdMwAQAAIAAJ|title=Zuma, A Biography |publisher=Jonathan Ball |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86842-263-0 }}{{rp|4}}{{Cite news |last=Tromp |first=Beauregard |date=16 February 2018 |title=A comrade rises – before the fall|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-16-00-a-comrade-rises-before-the-fall/ |url-status=live |access-date=24 December 2021 |website=Mail & Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321035850/https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-16-00-a-comrade-rises-before-the-fall/ |archive-date=21 March 2018 |language=en-ZA}} His middle name, Gedleyihlekisa, means "one who smiles while causing you harm" in Zulu.{{cite news|title=The disastrous legacy of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21737023-south-africas-lost-decade |newspaper=The Economist |date=14 February 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215012515/https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21737023-south-africas-lost-decade|archive-date=15 February 2018}} He did not receive formal schooling.{{cite web |url=http://www.anc.org.za/list_by.php?by=Jacob%20Zuma |title=The Jacob Zuma Page|access-date=13 August 2011|publisher=ANC|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504133022/http://www.anc.org.za/list_by.php?by=Jacob%20Zuma|archive-date=4 May 2013}}

He has at least three brothers—Michael,{{cite news|last=Smith|first=David|date=20 April 2009|title=Jacob Zuma the chameleon brings South Africans joy and fear|work=The Guardian |location=London, UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/20/zuma-south-africa-politics|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112190552/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/20/zuma-south-africa-politics|archive-date=12 January 2017}} Joseph,{{Cite web|last=Mavuso|first=Sihle|date=12 August 2021|title=Jacob Zuma's brother describes last moments before former president surrendered to authorities, blames Zondo|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/jacob-zumas-brother-describes-last-moments-before-former-president-surrendered-to-authorities-blames-zondo-c7de5504-b1a0-48d5-97b4-a2eb8fa96867 |url-status=live|access-date=23 December 2021|website=IOL|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812154812/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/jacob-zumas-brother-describes-last-moments-before-former-president-surrendered-to-authorities-blames-zondo-c7de5504-b1a0-48d5-97b4-a2eb8fa96867 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |language=en}} and Khanya{{Cite web|last=Khoza|first=Amanda|date=15 July 2021|title=Jacob Zuma's brother to be laid to rest next Thursday, says family elder|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-07-15-jacob-zumas-brother-to-be-laid-to-rest-next-thursday-says-family-elder/|access-date=23 December 2021|website=Sowetan|language=en-ZA}}—and at least one sister—Velephi.{{Cite web|last=Cilliers|first=Charles|date=29 May 2019|title=Jacob Zuma's sister Velephi passes away|url=https://www.citizen.co.za/news/2136696/jacob-zumas-sister-velephi-passes-away/|access-date=23 December 2021|website=The Citizen|language=en}} Michael Zuma was employed by Khumbula Property Services, a construction company, and in 2011 admitted to using his elder brother Jacob's political status to secure a government contract for the company in exchange for a homestead in Nkandla.{{Cite web|last=Khoza|first=Amanda|date=17 November 2013|title='I sold my Zuma name for R10m house'|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/i-sold-my-zuma-name-for-r10m-house-1608210|access-date=23 December 2021|website=IOL|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=11 November 2013|title=Michael Zuma adds finger to corruption pie|url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/zuma-magashule-implicated-tender-fraud|access-date=23 December 2021|website=eNCA|language=en|archive-date=23 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223221357/https://www.enca.com/south-africa/zuma-magashule-implicated-tender-fraud|url-status=dead}}

Zuma began engaging in anti-apartheid politics at an early age and joined the ANC in 1959. He became an active member of uMkhonto we Sizwe in 1962, two years after the ANC was banned. That year, he was arrested with a group of 45 recruits near Zeerust in western Transvaal, currently part of the North West Province.{{cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jacob-gedleyihlekisa-zuma |title=Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma|access-date=17 February 2018|publisher=SA History Online|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708095205/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jacob-gedleyihlekisa-zuma|archive-date=8 July 2017}} Zuma was convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and other notable ANC leaders also imprisoned during that time. While imprisoned, Zuma was a referee for prisoners association football games, organised by the prisoners own governing body, Makana F.A.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/2010/zuma-referee.htm|title=Fifa gives Zuma his ref's certificate|date=30 June 2009|access-date=3 November 2009|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511100432/http://www.southafrica.info/2010/zuma-referee.htm|archive-date=11 May 2011}}

After his release from prison, Zuma re-established ANC underground structures in Natal.{{cite web|title=Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma|url=http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=people/zumaj.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209044729/http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=people%2Fzumaj.html|archive-date=9 February 2009|access-date=11 December 2007|publisher=The Presidency}} He left South Africa in 1975 and was initially based in Swaziland where he met Thabo Mbeki. In Mozambique, he dealt with the arrival of thousands of exiles seeking military training in the wake of the 1976 Soweto uprising. He became a full member of the ANC National Executive Committee in 1977, and a member of the ANC's Politico-Military Council when it was formed in 1983.{{cite web|last=Trewhela|first=Paul|date=15 February 2009|title=Jacob Zuma in exile: three unexplored issues|url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/jacob-zuma-in-exile-three-unexplored-issues|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228194836/http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=117713&sn=Detail|archive-date=28 February 2009}} He was also Deputy Chief Representative of the ANC in Mozambique, a post he occupied until the signing of the Nkomati Accord between the Mozambican and South African governments in 1984. After the Accord was signed, he was appointed as ANC Chief Representative in Mozambique. In December 1986, the South African government requested that Mozambican authorities expel six senior members of the ANC, including Zuma. He was forced to leave Mozambique in January 1987, so he moved to the ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, where he was appointed Head of the ANC's underground structures, and shortly afterward was named chief of the intelligence department.

Zuma was also a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP).{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=944076 |title=Zuma's missing years come to light |date=22 February 2009 |work=The Times |location=UK |first=David |last=Beresford |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228210121/http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=944076 |archive-date=28 February 2009}} He joined in 1963, served briefly on the party's Politburo, and left in 1990.{{cite book|title=Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58bnDwAAQBAJ |first=Mark|last=Gevisser|year=2007| publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=978-1-86842-545-7}}

After the ANC was unbanned in February 1990, Zuma returned to South Africa on 21 March to begin the negotiations process. He was one of the first ANC leaders to return to South Africa for negotiations. Later that year, he was elected unopposed as the ANC's Southern Natal Chairperson. Zuma, as a Zulu, became known as a leading peace broker in Natal during the political violence of this period that was concentrated in that province, and arose largely from conflict between nationalist supporters of the then Xhosa-dominated ANC and supporters of the Zulu nationalist{{Cite journal|last=Piper|first=Laurence|date=2002|title=Nationalism without a nation: the rise and fall of Zulu nationalism in South Africa's transition to democracy, 1975–99|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1469-8219.00039|journal=Nations and Nationalism|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|pages=73–94|doi=10.1111/1469-8219.00039|hdl=10566/5798|issn=1469-8129|hdl-access=free}} Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). He is also credited with having expanded the ANC's Zulu support base in Natal.{{Cite news|last=Bosch|first=Marius|date=12 December 2007|title=Zulus want peacemaker Jacob Zuma for president|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-anc-zulus-idUSL1241626320071212|access-date=24 December 2021}} At the ANC's July 1991 elective conference, Zuma stood for the post of ANC Secretary-General and lost to Cyril Ramaphosa, but was elected Deputy Secretary-General, comfortably beating Alfred Nzo and Popo Molefe in a vote.{{Cite news |last=Wren |first=Christopher S. |date=6 July 1991 |title=Moderates Chosen By Apartheid Foes |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/06/world/moderates-chosen-by-apartheid-foes.html |access-date=17 November 2022}}

In the 1994 general election, South Africa's first democratic election, Zuma stood as the ANC's candidate for the premiership of his newly constituted home province, KwaZulu-Natal. The ANC rose to power in the elections, with Mandela elected president and Mbeki his deputy, but lost KwaZulu-Natal to the IFP. Zuma became a member of the executive council (MEC) for economic affairs and tourism in KwaZulu-Natal.{{cite web|date=14 February 2018|title=Statement of the African National Congress Following the Resignation of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Comrade Jacob Zuma|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-resignation-read-the-ancs-full-statement-13289235|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215121216/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-resignation-read-the-ancs-full-statement-13289235|archive-date=15 February 2018|work=Independent Online}}{{cite news|date=6 May 2009|title=A closer look at Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma|work=Independent Online|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/a-closer-look-at-jacob-gedleyihlekisa-zuma-442410}} In December 1994, he was elected ANC provincial chairperson for KwaZulu-Natal, and at the ANC's 1994 elective conference he was elected national chairperson, beating Pallo Jordan and Jeff Radebe by a large margin.{{Cite news|date=21 December 1994|title=ANC shuffles its leaders|work=Namibian|url=https://www.namibian.com.na/archive_pdf_19851990/1994_TheNamibian/21%20December%201994.pdf|access-date=11 December 2021}} He held both positions until 1997, having been re-elected provincial chairperson in 1996.

File:The Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat meeting the Deputy President of South Africa Mr. Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg on April 28, 2004.jpg in Johannesburg, 2004]]

Zuma was elected deputy president of the ANC at the party's 50th National Conference in Mafikeng in December 1997, and was subsequently appointed deputy president of South Africa in June 1999, pursuant to the 1999 general election. Zuma served under newly elected President Mbeki and was the chief mediator in the Burundi peace process,{{cite news|date=27 July 2004|title=Tutsis boycott Burundi talks|work=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3929519.stm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930103242/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3929519.stm|archive-date=30 September 2009}} in which he worked with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who chaired the Great Lakes Regional Initiative, a grouping of regional presidents overseeing the peace process in Burundi.{{Cite web|date=11 October 2004|title=Burundi peace process back in the spotlight|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/burundi-peace-process-back-in-the-spotlight-223811|access-date=24 December 2021|website=IOL}}

File:Bulelani Ngcuka.png, the NPA opened its investigation into Zuma.|left]]

In late 2002, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that Zuma was one of several ANC politicians under investigation by the Scorpions for corruption related to the R30-billion Arms Deal, a major defence procurement package which the government had signed months after Zuma's appointment to the deputy presidency.{{Cite journal|last=Bruce|first=David|date=2008|title=Without fear or favour: The Scorpions and the politics of justice|url=https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/sacq/article/view/951/820|journal=SA Crime Quarterly|volume=24}} In August 2003, however, National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Bulelani Ngcuka told the media that the NPA had a "prima facie case of corruption" against Zuma but had decided not to prosecute on the basis that the case was unlikely to be won. A highly public spat ensued between Zuma allies and Ngcuka, who was accused by Moe Shaik and Mac Maharaj of having been an apartheid spy, an accusation later dismissed by the specially appointed Hefer Commission.{{Cite web|last=Carroll|first=Rory|date=21 January 2004|title=Apartheid spy smear rebounds|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/21/southafrica.rorycarroll|access-date=3 December 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Zuma laid a misconduct complaint against Ngcuka with the Public Protector, Lawrence Mushwana, who in May 2004 found that Ngcuka's statement to the media had been "unfair and improper".{{Cite web|date=30 May 2004|title=Public protector a 'liar' and 'sad case'|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2004-05-30-public-protector-a-liar-and-sad-case/|access-date=3 December 2021|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web|date=1 June 2004|title=Ngcuka-Mushwana 'war' rages on|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/ngcuka-mushwana-war-rages-on-20040601|access-date=3 December 2021|website=News24|language=en-US}}

Mbeki and Zuma were both re-elected in the 2004 general election, but on 14 June 2005, Mbeki removed Zuma from his post as deputy president following the conviction of Zuma's associate, Schabir Shaik, for making underhanded payments to Zuma in relation to the Arms Deal.{{Cite web|last=Vasagar|first=Jeevan|date=14 June 2005|title=Mbeki fires deputy in corruption scandal|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/15/southafrica.jeevanvasagar|access-date=24 December 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Mbeki told a joint sitting of Parliament that "in the interest of the honourable Deputy President, the government, our young democratic system and our country, it would be best to release the honourable Jacob Zuma from his responsibilities".{{cite web|date=14 June 2005|title=Deputy president sacked|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-06-14-deputy-president-sacked|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215143844/https://mg.co.za/article/2005-06-14-deputy-president-sacked|archive-date=15 February 2018|work=Mail & Guardian}} Zuma also resigned as a member of Parliament.

His successor as deputy president of South Africa was Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Ngcuka's wife. Mlambo-Ngcuka had been minister of minerals and energy since 1999. Her appointment was booed publicly at ANC rallies by Zuma supporters, including at a Women's Day event in Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal.{{cite web|last=Mofokeng|first=Moffett|date=19 August 2005|title=How a lone cameraman 'dented' SABC's credibility|url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=248529&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912184428/http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=248529&area=%2Fbreaking_news%2Fbreaking_news__national%2F|archive-date=12 September 2005|access-date=20 December 2007|website=Mail & Guardian}}

{{Further|Jacob Zuma corruption charges#2005–2006: First indictment|label1=Jacob Zuma corruption charges First indictment}}

Soon after Zuma's dismissal, the NPA announced its intention to instate formal corruption charges against him.{{Cite web|date=22 June 2005|title=Mbeki appoints woman as new deputy president|url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/06/22/mbeki-appoints-woman-new-deputy-president|access-date=24 December 2021|website=The New Humanitarian|language=en}} He was served with a provisional indictment on fraud and corruption charges in November 2005, mirroring the indictment earlier served on Shaik.{{cite web|last=Oellermann|first=Ingrid|date=4 August 2008|title=Zuma's long path to court|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Zumas-long-path-to-court-20080804|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217201122/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Zumas-long-path-to-court-20080804|archive-date=17 February 2018|website=IOL}} However, the NPA was unprepared to serve the final indictment and filed an application for postponement. On 20 September 2006, the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed the application, and when the NPA indicated that it was not prepared to proceed with the trial, the matter was stricken off.{{cite web|date=20 September 2006|title=Zuma corruption trial struck off the roll|url=http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,135153,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026083725/http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0%2C2172%2C135153%2C00.html|archive-date=26 October 2006|access-date=20 September 2006|website=SABC News}}

{{Main|Jacob Zuma rape trial}}In December 2005, Zuma was charged with raping a 31-year-old woman, known to the public by the pseudonym Khwezi.{{Cite web|last=Pather|first=Raeesa|date=10 August 2016|title=The kanga, womanhood and how Zuma's 2006 rape trial changed the meaning of the fabric|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-10-the-khanga-womanhood-and-how-zumas-2006-rape-trial-changed-its-meaning/|access-date=11 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} The incident allegedly occurred on 2 November 2005 at Zuma's home in Forest Town, Johannesburg.{{Cite web|date=21 March 2006|title=Timeline of the Jacob Zuma rape trial|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-03-21-timeline-of-the-jacob-zuma-rape-trial/|access-date=11 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} When the trial began on 6 March 2006, Zuma pleaded not guilty, claiming that he and Khwezi had consensual sex. He was acquitted on 8 May 2006 following a highly publicised trial.{{Cite news |last=Humphreys |first=Joe |date=9 May 2006 |title=Dramatic scenes as Zuma is cleared of rape |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dramatic-scenes-as-zuma-is-cleared-of-rape-1.1000443 |access-date=11 January 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}} Zuma's admission was controversial, as he stated that he had not used a condom while having sex with Khwezi, despite knowing she was HIV-positive and having been, as deputy president, the head of the National AIDS Council and Moral Regeneration Campaign. He told the court that he had taken a shower after the act, claiming that doing so reduced the risk of HIV transmission.{{cite news|date=5 April 2006|title=SA's Zuma showered to avoid HIV|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4879822.stm|url-status=live|access-date=20 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225220255/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4879822.stm|archive-date=25 December 2007}} The South African comic strip Madam & Eve, and political cartoonist Zapiro, repeatedly lampooned Zuma for his testimony, and Zuma now always appears under a showerhead in Zapiro cartoons.{{Cite web|last=Grootes|first=Stephen|date=22 July 2011|title=SA's most famous showerhead sparks more debate|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-07-22-the-sas-most-famous-showerhead-sparks-more-debate/|access-date=11 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}

Although Zuma had been fired as national deputy president, he retained the ANC deputy presidency, and internal factions began to coalesce around him and Mbeki. Between 2005 and 2007, their rivalry deepened into what Susan Booysen called "a brutal and all-consuming disagreement between two major ANC groupings".{{Citation|last=Booysen|first=Susan|title=Aluta continua, from Polokwane to Mangaung|date=2011|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/12011115423.5|work=The African National Congress and the Regeneration of Political Power|pages=33–84|publisher=Wits University Press|isbn=978-1-86814-542-3|jstor=10.18772/12011115423.5|access-date=9 December 2021}}{{Cite news|last=Gevisser|first=Mark|date=12 December 2007|title=South Africa Grows Up|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/opinion/12gevisser.html|access-date=9 December 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book|last=Gevisser|first=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMJ6AAAAMAAJ|title=Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred|date=2007|publisher=Jonathan Ball|isbn=978-1-86842-301-9|language=en|chapter=Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, and the Future of the South African Dream}} Although the corruption and rape allegations were considered politically damaging,{{Cite web|date=8 May 2006|title=Jacob Zuma cleared of rape|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/08/aids.southafrica|access-date=11 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Zuma continued to enjoy considerable support from left-wing elements of the ANC, especially the ANC Youth League under Fikile Mbalula, and from the ANC's partners in the Tripartite Alliance, the SACP, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).{{cite news|last=Simao|first=Paul|date=28 July 2006|title=Left rallies to support embattled Zuma|work=Mail & Guardian|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-07-28-left-rallies-to-support-embattled-zuma|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908103535/http://mg.co.za/article/2006-07-28-left-rallies-to-support-embattled-zuma|archive-date=8 September 2011}} Blade Nzimande of the SACP and Zwelinzima Vavi of COSATU were among Zuma's chief organisers and most vocal supporters (though both recanted their support years later).{{Cite web|last=Du Toit|first=Pieter|date=11 December 2017|title=The Polokwane Decade Is Over: 'Comrades, Comrades: Sit Down!'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2017/12/10/the-polokwane-decade-is-over-comrades-comrades-sit-down_a_23302829/|access-date=9 December 2021|website=HuffPost UK|language=en}} Vavi and Youth League leader Julius Malema later said that they were prepared to "kill for Zuma".{{cite web|last=Wills|first=Zapiro with Mike|date=14 August 2018|title=The back story to the most controversial cartoon in SA history|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-08-14-the-back-story-to-the-most-controversial-cartoon-in-sa-history/|access-date=17 August 2018|website=Daily Maverick|language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web|date=21 June 2008|title=We're prepared to kill for Zuma: Vavi|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/were-prepared-to-kill-for-zuma-vavi-405292|access-date=11 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}} Nzimande and his SACP comrade Gwede Mantashe warned that the corruption trial would endanger public stability if it went ahead, although there were reports that support for Zuma had caused a rift within the SACP.{{cite web|date=20 December 2007|title=The trouble with JZ|url=http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=257884&area=%2finsight%2finsight__comment_and_analysis%2f|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621152427/http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=257884&area=%2Finsight%2Finsight__comment_and_analysis%2F|archive-date=21 June 2007|access-date=20 December 2007|website=Mail & Guardian}}{{cite web|last=Tabane|first=Rapule|date=21 April 2006|title=SACP divided on Zuma|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2006-04-21-sacp-divided-on-zuma|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205183536/http://mg.co.za/article/2006-04-21-sacp-divided-on-zuma|archive-date=5 February 2015|access-date=5 February 2015|website=Mail & Guardian}} While Zuma's political strength was at least partly based on his relationships within intra-party politics and Mbeki's lack of popularity with the left wing, he also had a large Zulu support base, and one analyst argued that his supporters' loyalty was partially rooted in a traditionalist Zulu loyalty.{{cite web|date=18 November 2005|title=Riding on Zulu empathy|url=http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=256829&area=%2finsight%2finsight__national%2f|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201335/http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=256829&area=%2Finsight%2Finsight__national%2F|archive-date=30 September 2007|access-date=20 December 2007|website=Mail & Guardian}}

File:Zuma-court-crowd.jpg during the rape trial|left]]

Zuma's supporters publicly expressed the view that his dismissal and prosecution were the result of a political conspiracy by Mbeki, who they said had sought to oust Zuma to entrench their dominance in the ANC.{{cite news|last=Pearce|first=Justin|date=10 October 2005|title=Analysis: SA's Zuma in the dock|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4328360.stm|url-status=live|access-date=20 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222142221/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4328360.stm|archive-date=22 December 2006}} Zuma's court appearances on the corruption charges drew large crowds of supporters (on one estimate, up to 10,000 at a time),{{cite web|last1=Robinson|first1=Vicki|last2=Table|first2=Rapule|last3=Haffajee|first3=Ferial|date=28 April 2006|title=23 days that shook our world|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2006-04-28-23-days-that-shook-our-world|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126131956/http://mg.co.za/article/2006-04-28-23-days-that-shook-our-world|archive-date=26 November 2016|access-date=26 November 2016|website=Mail & Guardian}} who, on one occasion, burned T-shirts with Mbeki's picture on them, which the ANC leadership condemned.{{Cite web|date=12 October 2005|title=Mbeki T-shirt burning riles ANC|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/mbeki-t-shirt-burning-riles-anc-20051012|access-date=11 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}} Zuma became known for singing the apartheid-era struggle song "Umshini wami" (English: Bring Me My Machine Gun) with his supporters during these informal rallies.{{Cite web|date=14 May 2012|title=Will Zuma's 'Letha umshini wami' (Bring my Machine gun) song win him second term?|url=https://www.news24.com/News24/Will-Zumas-Letha-umshini-wami-Bring-my-Machine-gun-song-win-him-second-term-20120514|access-date=11 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}}{{Cite journal|last=Gunner|first=Liz|date=2009|title=Jacob Zuma, the Social Body and the Unruly Power of Song|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27667093|journal=African Affairs|volume=108|issue=430|pages=27–48|doi=10.1093/afraf/adn064|jstor=27667093|issn=0001-9909|url-access=subscription}} Likewise, during the rape trial, Zuma supporters gathered outside the courthouse and sometimes clashed with smaller groups of anti-rape protesters.{{cite news|date=13 February 2006|title=Zuma rape case judge stands down|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4707464.stm|url-status=live|access-date=20 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112021906/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4707464.stm|archive-date=12 January 2009}} Zuma supporters were seen carrying posters questioning Khwezi's integrity, burning photos of her, and on one occasion throwing stones at a woman that they mistook for her.{{cite web|date=14 February 2006|title=Accuser insulted as Zuma hailed at court|url=http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060214102144364C522654|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060225010841/http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060214102144364C522654|archive-date=25 February 2006|access-date=20 December 2007|work=Independent Online}}

By October 2008, Zuma had been acquitted of rape{{cite news|last=Meldrum|first=Andrew|date=9 May 2006|title=Acquitted Zuma ready to fight for presidency|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/southafrica/story/0,,1770514,00.html|access-date=5 May 2010}} and was no longer subject to corruption charges. However, this did little to lighten the rivalry between Mbeki and Zuma. A Mail & Guardian analysis stated:

The political damage [of events of recent months] is incalculable, with the ruling African National Congress now an openly divided and faltering movement. This has had a domino effect on the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which have floundered and fractured in the face of damaging charges against a man they ardently backed as the country's next president. The trial has been fought against the backdrop of a bitter succession war between Mbeki and Zuma. Both have been fatally wounded. Mbeki's support in the ANC has crumbled... But even Zuma's most diehard supporters privately acknowledge that he cannot now be president...

By early 2006 during the rape trial, Zuma and his supporters complained of a concerted media plot to discredit him and harm his political career.{{Cite web|date=27 March 2006|title=Zuma team to ask for discharge|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-team-to-ask-for-discharge-270865|access-date=11 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}} In March, he appointed a legal team, including former Conservative Party politician Jurg Prinsloo and advocate Wycliffe Mothuloe, to fight his "crucifixion by the media". Among his targets was the Sowetan, whom he told that the media, at the instruction of Ngcuka of the NPA and former Justice Minister Penuell Maduna, was trying to "crucify" him. The newspaper had printed the interview under the headline "I'm like Christ – Zuma". In June and July 2006, Zuma filed a series of defamation lawsuits against various South African media outlets for publishing content that allegedly besmirched his public profile in the form of cartoons, commentary, photos and parody pieces. The defendants included the Star (sued for R20 million), Rapport (R10 million), Highveld Stereo (R7 million), the Sunday Times (R6 million), the Citizen (R5 million), the Sunday Sun (R5 million), the Sunday Independent (R5 million), and the Sunday World (R5 million).{{cite news|date=4 July 2006|title=Zuma defamation claim 'largest in SA history'|work=Independent Online|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-defamation-claim-largest-in-sa-history-284142|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217201122/https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-defamation-claim-largest-in-sa-history-284142|archive-date=17 February 2018}}{{Cite web|date=4 July 2006|title=Zuma defamation claim 'largest in SA history'|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-defamation-claim-largest-in-sa-history-284142|access-date=11 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}} Zuma said in 2005:

For a period of five years my person has been subjected to all types of allegations and innuendo, paraded through the media and other corridors of influence without these allegations {{sic|having being}} tested. I have thereby been denied my constitutional right to reply and defend myself.{{cite web|date=29 June 2005|title=Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust|url=http://www.friendsofjz.co.za/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210203520/http://www.friendsofjz.co.za/|archive-date=10 February 2010|access-date=15 September 2010}}

{{Further|52nd National Conference of the African National Congress}}

As per party tradition, Zuma was in line to succeed Mbeki as head of the party. However, by April 2007Gevisser, Mark (2007). "Home". Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred. Jonathan Ball. {{ISBN|978-1-86842-301-9}}.{{Cite web|last=Monare|first=Moshoeshoe|date=1 June 2006|title=Pipe or machinegun for ANC presidency?|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/pipe-or-machinegun-for-anc-presidency-279991|access-date=11 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}} it was clear that Mbeki intended to run for a third term as ANC president. Even though he was prohibited by the Constitution from standing again for the national presidency, the ANC lacks internal term limits. Zuma gained the support of five of the nine provincial ANC branches when they nominated candidates at their provincial congresses in late 2007.{{cite news|date=26 November 2007|title=ANC rank-and-file vote for change|work=Independent Online|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-rank-and-file-vote-for-change-380207|url-status=live|access-date=9 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005190313/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20071126042958726C564967|archive-date=5 October 2008}}{{cite news|date=26 November 2007|title=Zuma finds favour among his ANC comrades|work=Independent Online|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-finds-favour-among-his-anc-comrades-380161|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005190308/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20071125231051953C472153|archive-date=5 October 2008}} He became the favourite to win the presidency and became the ANC's presidential candidate in the 2009 elections. While the ANC was extremely likely to win regardless of its candidate, there were reports that Zuma's support base and left-wing alliances unnerved international and domestic investors.{{Cite news|last=Russell|first=Alec|date=30 November 2007|title=Jacob Zuma|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/dc0fcb32-9f5c-11dc-8031-0000779fd2ac|access-date=11 January 2022}}{{cite web|date=1 June 2006|title=Pipe or machinegun for ANC presidency?|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/pipe-or-machinegun-for-anc-presidency-279991|access-date=13 December 2019|work=Independent Online}}{{cite news|last=McGreal|first=Chris|date=15 December 2007|title=South Africa in turmoil as Mbeki heads for defeat|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,2227953,00.html}}

On 18 December 2007, at the ANC's 52nd National Conference in Polokwane, Limpopo, Zuma was elected ANC president, beating Mbeki with 2,329 votes to 1,505.{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Juanita|date=18 December 2007|title=Fireworks greet new ANC president|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/fireworks-greet-new-anc-president-383189|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213111721/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/fireworks-greet-new-anc-president-383189|archive-date=13 February 2018|work=Independent Online}}File:Jacob Zuma in 2008.jpg

{{Further|Jacob Zuma corruption charges#2007–2009: Second indictment|label1=Jacob Zuma corruption charges § Second indictment}}

Just over a week after the Polokwane conference, the NPA reinstated charges against Zuma and served him an indictment to stand trial on 12 fraud charges, two corruption charges, and one charge each of racketeering and money laundering.{{cite news|date=28 December 2007|title=New charges for S Africa's Zuma|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7163332.stm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231062529/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7163332.stm|archive-date=31 December 2007}}{{Cite web|date=12 September 2008|title='Zuma application shouldn't be taken lightly'|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-application-shouldnt-be-taken-lightly-416250|access-date=11 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}} According to the Constitution, he would have been rendered ineligible for the national presidency had he been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. However, on 12 September 2008, the charges were declared unlawful on a technicality. The presiding judge also expressed a belief that the charges had been the result of a political conspiracy against Zuma.{{cite news|last=Zigomo|first=Muchena|date=11 September 2008|title=South African judge throws out Zuma graft case|newspaper=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-zuma-idUSLC54653420080912|url-status=live|access-date=27 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129050546/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/africa/2008/09/13/174479/S.-African.htm|archive-date=29 November 2014}}

Although this judgement was later overturned by the appellate court, the Zuma-aligned ANC National Executive, as elected at the Polokwane conference, immediately "recalled" Mbeki, asking him to resign as national president.{{cite web|date=15 February 2018|title=A timeline of Jacob Zuma's presidency|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/a-timeline-of-jacob-zumas-presidency-13192711|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213193627/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/a-timeline-of-jacob-zumas-presidency-13192711|archive-date=13 February 2018|work=Independent Online}} Mbeki, seeking to avoid a protracted dispute, did so, and was replaced by newly elected ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who led an interim administration while Zuma campaigned for the 2009 election.{{Cite news|date=25 September 2008|title=Motlanthe: South Africa's safe hands|language=en-GB|work=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7629239.stm|access-date=9 December 2021}}

In January 2009, the Supreme Court of Appeal found that the charges against Zuma were not unlawful, contrary to the ruling of the lower court. However, the NPA formally withdrew the charges in the same week that Zuma was inaugurated as national president, citing apparent evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in the so-called spy tapes.{{cite news|date=6 April 2009|title=Mpshe reveals contents of Ngcuka, McCarthy tapes|work=Mail & Guardian|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-04-06-mpshe-reveals-contents-of-ngcuka-mccarthy-tapes|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924173923/http://mg.co.za/article/2009-04-06-mpshe-reveals-contents-of-ngcuka-mccarthy-tapes|archive-date=24 September 2015}}

In March 2009, Shaik was controversially released from prison on medical parole, just over two years into his 15-year sentence. Earlier the same week, Zuma had said publicly that as national president he would pardon Shaik on medical grounds, and denied having played any role in Shaik's release.{{cite news |last=Bearak |first=Barry |date=10 March 2009 |title=Waiting to Helm South Africa: President or Convict? Or Both? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/africa/11safrica.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511092953/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/africa/11safrica.html |archive-date=11 May 2011}} Shaik had applied for a presidential pardon in April 2008 when Mbeki was president, and he continued to lobby for a pardon during Zuma's presidency, saying it was unfair that he had been convicted while neither Zuma nor the implicated arms company had been taken to trial.{{Cite web|last=Brkic|first=Branko|date=19 October 2009|title=Zuma's past comes back to haunt him as Shaik begs pardon|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2009-10-19-Zumas-past-comes-back-to-haunt-him/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Rademeyer|first=Julian|date=21 December 2009|title=Angry Shaik demands his pardon|url=https://www.news24.com/witness/archive/angry-shaik-demands-his-pardon-20150430|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Witness|language=en-US}}

File:2009 news seller Capetown 3563345045.jpg news vendor displays the headline "Zuma Dawn" on 10 May 2009]]{{Main|Presidency of Jacob Zuma}}

The ANC won the national election on 22 April 2009 by a slightly diminished majority of 65.90%, with Zuma having campaigned under the theme "Continuity and Change".{{Cite journal|last=Landsberg|first=C.|date=2012|title=Continuity and Change in the Foreign Policies of the Mbeki and Zuma Governments|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ai/article/view/76513|journal=Africa Insight|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=1–16|issn=1995-641X}}{{Citation|last=Booysen|first=Susan|title=The ANC and its pillars of people's power|date=2011|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/12011115423.6|work=The African National Congress and the Regeneration of Political Power|pages=86–125|publisher=Wits University Press|jstor=10.18772/12011115423.6|isbn=978-1-86814-542-3|access-date=12 January 2022}} His appointment was formalised by Parliament on 6 May, and he was sworn in as president of South Africa on 9 May 2009.

As president and therefore a member of cabinet, Zuma was required by the government's ethics code to declare his financial interests within 60 days of taking office. In March 2010, nine months after taking office, South African media reported that he had failed to do so. Opposition parties and the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partner COSATU urged Zuma to disclose his interests, and the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) called for an investigation by the Public Protector.{{cite news|date=8 March 2010|title=South Africa opposition call for probe into Jacob Zuma|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555697.stm|url-status=live|access-date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311213312/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555697.stm|archive-date=11 March 2010}} ANC spokesperson Brian Sokutu explained that Zuma constituted a "special case" because of his "large family", which complicated the process.{{cite web|date=9 March 2010|title=ANC distances itself from spokesman's statement on Zuma|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article346579.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312080436/http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article346579.ece|archive-date=12 March 2010|access-date=15 September 2010|work=Sunday Times}} The ANC distanced itself from Sokutu's statement and Zuma filed the disclosure later that week.{{cite web|date=11 March 2010|title=Zuma under fire after late declaration|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-under-fire-after-late-declaration-1.475953|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821113237/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1|archive-date=21 August 2010|access-date=15 September 2010|website=Independent Online}}

File:Zuma Stadium Tour, 2009 World Economic Forum on Africa.jpg in June 2009, in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup|left]]

As a former member of the SACP, Zuma has described himself as a socialist and became president with the support of a left-wing coalition.{{cite news |last=Wines |first=Michael |date=17 December 2007 |title=Leadership Battle Grips South Africa's Dominant Party |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/world/africa/17anc.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721071919/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/world/africa/17anc.html |archive-date=21 July 2016}} Analysts have claimed that he has bolstered populism in South Africa.{{Cite web |last=Gumede |first=William |date=28 May 2019 |title=How the EFF has shifted SA politics to the left |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/Columnists/GuestColumn/how-the-eff-has-shifted-sa-politics-to-the-left-20190528 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}{{Citation |last=Ipsos |title=Beyond Populism |date=9 February 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdjhoV8_FBY |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310172638/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdjhoV8_FBY |access-date=27 April 2017 |archive-date=10 March 2017 |url-status=live}} From 2017, at the tail-end of his presidency, his rhetoric and policy priorities became more leftist under what is known as the "radical economic transformation" (RET) programme of the ANC of this period. Zuma announced the new focus on RET during his February 2017 State of the Nation address.{{Cite web |last=Merten |first=Marianne |date=29 June 2017 |title=ANC policy, radical economic transformation and ideological proxy battles for control |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-06-29-analysis-anc-policy-radical-economic-transformation-and-ideological-proxy-battles-for-control/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} Later that year, he explained that RET had been adopted as ANC policy and therefore as government policy, and defined it as a "fundamental change in the structures, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership and control of the economy, in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor".{{Cite web |last=Paton |first=Carol |date=7 December 2017 |title=Foreign investors in energy sector will have to partner with locals, Zuma says |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-12-07-foreign-investors-in-energy-sector-will-have-to-partner-with-locals-zuma-says/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}} The RET policy was controversial,{{Cite journal |last=Desai |first=Ashwin |date=2 October 2018 |title=The Zuma moment: between tender-based capitalists and radical economic transformation |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2018.1522424 |journal=Journal of Contemporary African Studies |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=499–513 |doi=10.1080/02589001.2018.1522424 |issn=0258-9001 |s2cid=158520517|url-access=subscription }} and some critics claimed that it had popular political appeal but lacked substance.{{Cite web |last=McKaiser |first=Eusebius |date=21 April 2017 |title=It's radical economic gibberish |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-04-21-00-its-radical-economic-gibberish/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Rudin |first=Jeff |date=25 April 2017 |title=Zuma's plan for radical economic transformation is just BEE on steroids |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-04-25-zumas-plan-for-radical-economic-transformation-is-just-bee-on-steriods/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Others claimed that it was used to defend "rent-seeking practices"{{Cite book |last=Bhorat |first=Haroon |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Betrayal-of-the-Promise-25052017.pdf |title=Betrayal of the promise: how South Africa is being stolen |publisher=State Capacity Research Project |year=2017}} and the influence of the Gupta family on Zuma's administration.{{Cite web |date=2 July 2017 |title='Let's embrace radical economic transformation' |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-02-00-lets-embrace-radical-economic-transformation/ |access-date=7 December 2021 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=31 August 2018 |title=Dot by dot, state capture emerges |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-31-00-dot-by-dot-state-capture-emerges/ |access-date=7 December 2021 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Zuma claimed that critics of his politics were agents of "white monopoly capital".

Zuma was inaugurated in South Africa at during the 2008 financial crisis and the first recession in South Africa since the end of apartheid.{{Cite web |last=Shipalana |first=Palesa |date=14 December 2017 |title=The good, the bad and the ugly: an economic review of Zuma's presidency |url=https://www.africaportal.org/features/good-bad-and-ugly-economic-review-zumas-presidency/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Africa Portal}} Upon taking office, he established the National Planning Commission under the office of the presidency which was chaired by Minister Trevor Manuel. It was responsible for developing the National Development Plan, which was adopted by Zuma's cabinet in 2012.{{Cite web|date=30 April 2010|title=Statement by President Jacob Zuma on the appointment of Commissioners to the National Planning Commission|url=https://www.presidency.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-jacob-zuma-appointment-commissioners-national-planning-commission|access-date=12 January 2022|publisher=The Presidency|language=en|archive-date=12 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112233411/https://www.presidency.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-jacob-zuma-appointment-commissioners-national-planning-commission|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Eythan |date=20 June 2013 |title=The National Development Plan (NDP): the current state of play |url=https://hsf.org.za/publications/hsf-briefs/the-national-development-plan-ndp-the-current-state-of-play |access-date=13 January 2022 |publisher=Helen Suzman Foundation}} Other major initiatives included the Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, which was launched in 2011 amid electricity generation shortfalls at state energy utility Eskom, and a R4-trillion National Infrastructure Plan launched in 2012.{{Cite web |date=11 December 2014 |title=Cabinet's five-point plan to address SA electricity woes |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/75760/cabinets-five-point-plan-to-address-sa-electricity-woes/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=BusinessTech |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Paton |first=Carol |date=18 February 2019 |title=Forum linked to Zuma lobby groups joins campaign against IPPs |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/politics/2019-02-18-forum-linked-to-zuma-lobby-groups-joins-campaign-against-ipps/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=19 October 2012 |title=Zuma launches national infrastructure plan |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-10-19-zuma-launches-national-infrastructure-plan/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Zuma expressed support for expanding South Africa's nuclear power programme, particularly for a nuclear deal with Russian nuclear agency Rosatom which concluded in September 2014 but was ruled unlawful by the Western Cape High Court in 2017.{{Cite web |date=25 March 2019 |title=Editorial: SA must stand up against Jacob Zuma's nuclear option |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/editorials/2019-03-25-editorial-sa-must-stand-up-against-jacob-zumas-nuclear-option/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Maughan |first=Karyn |date=28 March 2019 |title=Zuma's nuclear deal: Russian roulette for SA |work=BusinessLIVE |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/2019-03-28-zumas-nuclear-deal-russian-roulette-for-sa/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Business Day |language=en-ZA}}

File:Встреча Владимира Путина с Президентом ЮАР Джейкобом Зумой 1.jpg in 2015]]

Zuma's administration pursued a number of structural economic policy reforms, but critics characterised them as "investor-unfriendly", and most were met significant opposition. His reforms included the increased regulation of private security companies.{{Cite web |last=Mtyala |first=Quinton |date=16 November 2015 |title=Zuma yet to sign security industry bill |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-yet-to-sign-security-industry-bill-1945913 |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher= Independent Online (South Africa) IOL |language=en}} He also increased the regulation of oil, gas, and minerals resources.{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Ross |date=9 February 2015 |title=Will South Africa's Minerals Bill take the road less travelled? |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/will-south-africas-minerals-bill-take-the-road-less-travelled/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=SAIIA |language=en-GB}} Furthermore, Zuma announced a proposal to increase black economic empowerment ownership requirements in mines.{{Cite web |last=Phakati |first=Bekezela |date=22 June 2017 |title=Zuma backs new Mining Charter |work=TimesLIVE |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/business/2017-06-22-zuma-backs-new-mining-charter/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Nicolson |first=Greg |date=26 June 2017 |title=Chamber of Mines: Mining Charter is 'illegal', 'unconstitutional' and 'stupefying' |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-06-26-chamber-of-mines-mining-charter-is-illegal-unconstitutional-and-stupefying/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Daily Maverick |language=en}} In 2017, Zuma advanced a proposal for the introduction of a national minimum wage.{{Cite web |last=Orderson |first=Crystal |date=8 February 2017 |title=South Africa's presidential frontrunner announces country's first minimum wage |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/843/south-africas-presidential-frontrunner-announces-countrys-first-minimum-wage/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=The Africa Report |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Mokone |first=Thabo |date=2 November 2017 |title=National minimum wage to be implemented in May 2018 |work=TimesLIVE |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-11-02-national-minimum-wage-of-r3200-per-month-to-be-implemented-in-may-2018/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}

Zuma was attentive to land reform issues throughout his second term, but from 2017 he emphasised his support for land expropriation without compensation.{{Cite web |date=24 February 2017 |title=Zuma says government will take land without compensation: report |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/160313/zuma-says-government-will-take-land-without-compensation-report/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=BusinessTech |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Merten |first=Marianne |date=3 March 2017 |title=Parliament: Zuma calls on ANC to unite with EFF to change the Constitution on land issues |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-03-parliament-zuma-calls-on-anc-to-unite-with-eff-to-change-the-constitution-on-land-issues/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Fabricius |first=Peter |date=30 March 2017 |title=Will Zuma's attempts to Zanufy South Africa backfire? |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/will-zumas-attempts-to-zanufy-south-africa-backfire |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=ISS Africa |language=en}} While opening the ANC's 54th National Conference in December 2017, he unilaterally announced that higher education would be free for students in households whose income was less than R350,000 per year, meeting a central demand of the #FeesMustFall student protests.{{Cite web |last=Basson |first=Adriaan |date=15 March 2021 |title=Jacob Zuma did not only steal our money; he also stole our dreams |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/columnists/adriaanbasson/adriaan-basson-jacob-zuma-did-not-only-steal-our-money-he-also-stole-our-dreams-20210314 |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=News24 |language=en-US}}

South Africa's social grants programme expanded under Zuma,{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Thalia |date=19 June 2014 |title=Social grants beneficiaries more than doubled in 10 years |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-06-19-social-grants-beneficiaries-more-than-double-in-10-years/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} and Zuma was praised for his HIV/AIDS policy which has been credited with increasing life expectancy in South Africa.{{Cite web |last=Masombuka |first=Sipho |date=14 April 2016 |title=Step down and salvage your HIV/Aids treatment policy legacy' Zuma advised |work=TimesLIVE |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016-04-14-step-down-and-salvage-your-hivaids-treatment-policy-legacy-zuma-advised/ |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=17 December 2017 |title=Zuma, the accidental Aids hero |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/zuma-the-accidental-aids-hero-12450157 |access-date=12 January 2022 | publisher= Independent Online (South Africa) IOL |language=en}} However, his critics claim that his policies increased South Africa's debt burden{{Cite web|date=23 February 2018|title=Budget 2018 is Zuma's costly legacy|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-23-budget-2018-is-zumas-costly-legacy/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web|last=Henderson|first=Roxanne|date=18 February 2018|title=Counting the cost of the blunders, debt and graft of the Zuma-era|work=TimesLIVE |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2018-02-17-counting-the-cost-of-the-blunders-debt-and-graft-of-the-zuma-era/|access-date=12 January 2022| publisher=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}} with the debt-to-GDP ratio increasing from 28% at the start of his presidency{{Cite web|last=Atud|first=Vivian|date=14 January 2015|title=South African Government Debt up 62% Under the Zuma Administration|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/xArchive/Voices/south-african-government-debt-up-62-under-the-zuma-administration-20180719|access-date=12 January 2022| publisher=News24|language=en-US}} to just over 50% in the week of his resignation. Nedbank, one of South Africa's largest banks, estimates that poor policy decisions, maladministration, and corruption during Zuma's second term alone cost the South African economy R470 billion (US$33.7 billion).{{cite web|date=21 February 2019|title=Analysis: Eskom's troubles show everything that's wrong with SA|url=https://www.fin24.com/Budget/analysis-eskoms-troubles-show-everything-thats-wrong-with-sa-20190220|access-date=21 February 2019| publisher=Fin24}}

Contracts with the consulting firms McKinsey & Company, KPMG, and Deloitte were linked to alleged corruption in state-owned enterprises. McKinsey & Company eventually reached an agreement with the South African government and paid back R1 Billion (US$67.3 million) for problems relating to work done at Eskom, as well as a company linked to the Gupta family. In January 2022 the South African government published the findings of an inquiry into state capture and the consultancy firm Bain & Company stands accused of helping Zuma to undermine the South African tax authority.{{Cite book|title= The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments and Warps Our Economies | author1=Mariana Mazzucato | author2= Rosie Collington |publisher= Penguin Books Limited |year=2023 |isbn= 9781802060270 | pages=}}

{{See also|List of international presidential trips made by Jacob Zuma}}

Zuma's first state visit as president was to Angola, where he sought to improve relations with the government of President José Eduardo dos Santos, who had had a tense relationship with Mbeki.{{Cite journal |last=Cilliers |first=Jakkie |date=8 June 2017 |title=Life beyond BRICS? South Africa's future foreign policy interests |url=https://issafrica.org/research/southern-africa-report/life-beyond-brics-south-africas-future-foreign-policy-interests |journal=Southern Africa Report |publisher=ISS Africa |volume=9}} His government's foreign policy emphasised the developmental objectives of African and Global South countries with a focus on economic diplomacy.{{Cite web |last=Fabricius |first=Peter |date=31 August 2021 |title=A fit for purpose foreign policy: Dispense with parochial approaches and recognise international opportunities |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-31-a-fit-for-purpose-foreign-policy-dispense-with-parochial-approaches-and-recognise-international-opportunities/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} It was also characterised by a pivot towards the BRIC countries, especially China.{{Cite web|last=Mpungose|first=Luanda|date=22 February 2018|title=South Africa's foreign policy under Zuma: towards greater strategic partnerships|url=https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africa-s-foreign-policy-under-zuma-towards-greater-strategic-partnerships/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=SAIIA|language=en-GB}}{{Cite journal|last=Maphaka|first=Dominic|date=18 December 2020|title=A Shift or Priority? An Afrocentric Analysis of Zuma's Foreign Policy towards China|url=https://upjournals.up.ac.za/index.php/strategic_review/article/view/75|journal=The Strategic Review for Southern Africa|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|pages=87–108|doi=10.35293/srsa.v42i2.75|s2cid=234511314|issn=1013-1108|doi-access=free}} In December 2010, South Africa became a formal member of the BRIC organisation, which was subsequently renamed BRICS,{{cite web|last=Graceffo|first=Antonio|date=21 January 2011|title=BRIC Becomes BRICS: Changes on the Geopolitical Chessboard|url=http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/01/21/bric-becomes-brics-changes-on-the-geopolitical-chessboard/2/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126031749/http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/01/21/bric-becomes-brics-changes-on-the-geopolitical-chessboard/2/|archive-date=26 January 2011|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Foreign Policy Journal}} and Zuma attended the group's third summit meeting in Sanya, China, in 2011. South Africa's admission followed a concerted campaign for membership and has been described as "a huge diplomatic coup" and "the most important foreign policy achievement of the Zuma administration".File:Naoto Kan Barack Obama David Cameron and Jacob Zuma 20100625.jpg and David Cameron at a G8 African Outreach meeting in 2010|240x240px]]During South Africa's tenure on the United Nations Security Council, Zuma's administration was criticised for deviating in its stance on certain foreign regimes, especially in its attitudes towards international intervention in civil conflicts. It voted in favour of Resolution 1970 and Resolution 1973 but condemned their use by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as the basis for military intervention in Libya.{{Cite web |date=14 June 2011 |title=Zuma lashes Nato for 'abusing' UN resolutions on Libya |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-14-zuma-lashes-nato-for-abusing-un-resolutions-on-libya/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} It also voted in favour of a 2012 resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down,{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Paul |date=4 February 2012 |title=Syria resolution vetoed by Russia and China at United Nations |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/04/assad-obama-resign-un-resolution |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} but established friendly relations with the Assad regime after the 2014 Syrian presidential election.{{cite web |last=al-Sabbagh |first=Hazem |date=23 June 2014 |title=President al-Assad receives congratulatory cable from South African President Zuma |url=http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=4016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214164805/http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=4016 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |access-date=20 April 2015}}{{Cite web |last=Fabricius |first=Peter |date=5 June 2016 |title=Syrian horrors 'exaggerated', claims Mfeketo |url=https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/syrian-horrors-exaggerated-claims-mfeketo-2030555 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Sunday Independent |language=en}} The administration also appeared to vacillate in its response to the disputed 2010 presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire.

In Zimbabwe, Mbeki had advocated for non-confrontational "quiet diplomacy" as an alternative to the "megaphone diplomacy" used by Western governments that harshly criticised Robert Mugabe's regime.{{Cite news|last=Russell|first=Alec|date=16 April 2008|title=Mbeki's stance on Zimbabwe under fire|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/364a7e70-0bd3-11dd-9840-0000779fd2ac|access-date=12 January 2022}} This approach was controversial, with elements of the ruling alliance calling for a tougher stance against Mugabe and the ruling ZANU–PF.{{cite news|last=Lodge|first=Tom|date=27 October 2004|title=Quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe: a case study of South Africa in Africa|page=7|work=Paper delivered to the African Studies Centre, Leiden|url=http://wiserweb.wits.ac.za/PDF%20Files/wirs%20-%20lodge.pdf|url-status=dead|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910185647/http://wiserweb.wits.ac.za/PDF%20Files/wirs%20-%20lodge.pdf|archive-date=10 September 2008}}{{Cite news|last=Russell|first=Alec|date=17 April 2008|title=Mbeki's 'quiet diplomacy' meets an ever louder response|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/ca920680-0ca9-11dd-86df-0000779fd2ac|access-date=12 January 2022}}{{Cite journal|last=Alden|first=Chris|date=1 June 2002|title=South Africa's 'Quiet Diplomacy' and the crisis in Zimbabwe|url=https://journals.openedition.org/cea/1341|journal=Cadernos de Estudos Africanos|language=en|issue=2|pages=187–211|doi=10.4000/cea.1341|issn=1645-3794|doi-access=free|hdl=10071/3100|hdl-access=free}} In a 2006 interview with Der Spiegel, Zuma had supported quiet diplomacy and said of Mugabe:

The Europeans often ignore the fact that Mugabe is very popular among Africans... The people love him. So how can we condemn him? Many in Africa believe that there is a racist aspect to European and American criticism of Mugabe. Millions of blacks died in Angola, the Republic of Congo and Rwanda. A few whites lost their lives in Zimbabwe, unfortunately, and already the West is bent out of shape.{{cite news|date=20 December 2006|title=The West Is Bent out of Shape|work=Der Spiegel|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455681,00.html|url-status=live|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080810212413/https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455681,00.html|archive-date=10 August 2008}}

File:The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh interacting with the President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma, at the G-20 Summit, at Pittsburgh, USA on September 25, 2009.jpg at the 2009 G20 summit]]

By December 2007, Zuma was more forthcoming in criticising Zimbabwe's leadership, contrasting his own policy to Mbeki's, and observing that it was "tragic that other world leaders who witness repression pretend it is not happening, or is exaggerated".{{cite news|date=16 December 2007|title=Zuma blasts Mbeki's Zimbabwe quiet diplomacy|work=Zimbabwe Metro|url=http://zimbabwemetro.com/2007/12/16/zuma-blasts-mbeki-s-zimbabwe-quiet-diplomacy/|url-status=dead|access-date=18 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217061621/http://zimbabwemetro.com/2007/12/16/zuma-blasts-mbeki-s-zimbabwe-quiet-diplomacy/|archive-date=17 December 2007}} He was critical of the Zimbabwean government's behaviour during the disputed March 2008 elections in Zimbabwe and called the delays "suspicious".{{cite news|date=9 April 2008|title=Zuma condemns Zimbabwe poll delay|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7337986.stm|url-status=live|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413062618/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7337986.stm|archive-date=13 April 2008}}{{cite news|date=11 April 2008|title=ZIMBABWE: Mugabe is losing the region's support|work=IRIN (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77725|url-status=live|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418064638/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=77725|archive-date=18 April 2008}} In a press conference on 24 June he said, "We cannot agree with ZANU-PF. We cannot agree with them on values. We fought for the right of people to vote, we fought for democracy."{{cite news|date=24 June 2008|title=Zuma: Zimbabwe is out of control|work=Mail & Guardian|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-06-24-zuma-zimbabwe-is-out-of-control|url-status=live|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704161502/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-06-24-zuma-zimbabwe-is-out-of-control|archive-date=4 July 2008}} At an ANC dinner in July, he rebuked Mugabe for refusing to step down,{{cite news|date=9 July 2008|title=Mugabe has overstayed welcome, Zuma|work=The Zimbabwe Times|url=http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=827|url-status=dead|access-date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121213710/http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=827|archive-date=21 November 2008}} and in November he said that the South African Development Community (SADC) should "force" Zimbabwean leaders to reach an agreement, if necessary.{{Cite news|date=7 November 2008|title=Zuma says summit must "force" Zimbabwe deal|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-zimbabwe-politics-zuma-idUKTRE4A64XR20081107|access-date=12 January 2022}}

In 2010, Zuma called for international sanctions against Mugabe and his allies to be lifted.{{Cite news|date=3 March 2010|title=S.Africa's Zuma backs end to Zimbabwe sanctions|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/ozatp-safrica-zuma-20100303-idAFJOE62202020100303|access-date=12 January 2022}}{{Cite web|date=2 March 2010|title=Jacob Zuma calls for sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/02/jacob-zuma-robert-mugable-sanctions|access-date=12 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} After a March 2013 meeting with Mugabe in Pretoria, he highlighted the commonalities between his and Mugabe's political parties, telling the press, "We share the same values, we went through the same route... We believe that our positions as former liberation movements need to be consolidated."{{Cite web|date=8 March 2013|title=Mugabe visits SA|url=https://www.news24.com/drum/news/mugabe-visits-sa-20170728|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Drum|publisher=News24|language=en-US}} Despite tensions in later months, as Zuma and SADC attempted to nudge Mugabe towards democratic reforms,{{Cite web|date=12 July 2013|title=Rift between Zanu-PF and SA deepens|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-07-12-rift-between-zanu-pf-and-sa-deepens/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} the Business Day reported that relations between the countries remained "cordial" throughout Zuma's presidency.{{Cite web|last=Matsabu|first=Tokollo|date=20 December 2017|title=Emmerson Mnangagwa to meet Jacob Zuma in first official visit to SA|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2017-12-20-emmerson-mnangagwa-to-meet-jacob-zuma-in-first-official-visit-to-sa/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Business Day|language=en-ZA}}

South Africa hosted the 25th Summit of the AU in Johannesburg from 7 to 15 June 2015. It was attended by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, then a fugitive from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which sought to prosecute him on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. South Africa was a signatory to the Rome Statute, which obliged it to arrest al-Bashir, but instead granted him diplomatic immunity while he attended the summit.{{Cite web|date=15 June 2015|title=Laughter as court told al-Bashir has left|url=https://www.news24.com/News24/Laughter-as-court-told-al-Bashir-has-left-20150615|access-date=12 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}} While the matter was being adjudicated by a South African High Court, and just after Judge President Dunstan Mlambo ordered al-Bashir's arrest, the state's lawyer told the court that he had left the country. His plane left from Waterkloof Air Force Base, presumably with the government's knowledge{{Cite news|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=15 June 2015|title=Omar al-Bashir, Leaving South Africa, Eludes Arrest Again|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/world/africa/omar-hassan-al-bashir-sudan-south-africa.html|access-date=12 January 2022|issn=0362-4331}} and reportedly with Zuma's explicit approval.{{Cite web|last=Hunter|first=Qaanitah|date=18 June 2015|title=How Zuma and ministers plotted Omar al-Bashir's escape|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2015-06-18-how-zuma-and-ministers-plotted-omar-al-bashirs-escape/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} When it was criticised for this breach, the South African government argued that the ICC was used unfairly against African heads of state while failing to hold Western leaders to the same standards.{{Cite web|last=Bowcott|first=Owen|date=15 June 2015|title=Sudan president Omar al-Bashir leaves South Africa as court considers arrest|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/15/south-africa-to-fight-omar-al-bashirs-arrest-warrant-sudan|access-date=12 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} In 2016, it announced in New York that it was withdrawing from the ICC,{{Cite web|last=Du Plessis|first=Max|date=10 December 2017|title=South Africa's latest threat to withdraw from the ICC, or, How to Squander Leadership|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-12-11-south-africas-latest-threat-to-withdraw-from-the-icc-or-how-to-squander-leadership/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} and Zuma's administration subsequently tabled legislation to effect the withdrawal.{{Cite web |last=Fabricius |first=Peter |date=15 November 2019 |title=Is Ramaphosa still kicking the ICC can down the road? |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/is-ramaphosa-still-kicking-the-icc-can-down-the-road |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=ISS Africa |language=en}}

File:Mandela-Memorial 8175.JPGIn a press conference on 5 December 2013, Zuma announced the death of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president.{{cite web|date=5 December 2013|title=President Jacob Zuma on death of former President Nelson Mandela|url=http://www.gov.za/speeches/view.php?sid=42463|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214114924/http://www.gov.za/speeches/view.php?sid=42463|archive-date=14 February 2014|access-date=8 December 2013|publisher=The Presidency}}{{cite news|date=5 December 2013|title=President Jacob Zuma announces the passing of Madiba|work=SABC|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltwj1ftRJ68|url-status=live|access-date=8 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606143409/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltwj1ftRJ68|archive-date=6 June 2014}} The memorial took place on 10 December 2013 at FNB Stadium near Soweto. When Zuma entered the stadium parts of the crowd booed him loudly.{{cite web|date=31 March 2013|title=South African president Jacob Zuma booed at Mandela memorial|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/10508338/South-African-president-Jacob-Zuma-booed-at-Mandela-memorial.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413015424/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/10508338/South-African-president-Jacob-Zuma-booed-at-Mandela-memorial.html|archive-date=13 April 2016|access-date=31 March 2016|website=The Telegraph}}{{Cite web|date=10 December 2013|title=South African President Zuma humiliated at Nelson Mandela memorial|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-dec-10-la-fg-wn-nelson-mandela-memorial-jacob-zuma-20131210-story.html|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} Ramaphosa and Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for discipline,{{Cite web|last=Thelwell|first=Emma|date=10 December 2013|title=Mandela memorial: why the crowds booed President Zuma|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/mandela-memorial-why-the-crowds-booed-president-zuma|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Channel 4 News|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|last=Mnyanda|first=Siya|date=11 December 2013|title=Mandela memorial: it's the ANC that's betrayed South Africa, not the booing|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/11/nelson-mandela-anc-jacob-zuma-boo|access-date=13 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} with Ramaphosa telling the crowd in Zulu that the country could address its internal disagreements when foreign dignitaries were not present.{{Cite web|last=Grootes|first=Stephen|date=10 December 2013|title=Booing Zuma: Is this the turning point?|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-12-10-booing-zuma-is-this-the-turning-point/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} Some South African commentators said that the crowd's actions were unexpected, and they were widely linked to the ongoing Nkandla scandal,{{Cite web|last=Whitaker|first=Raymond|date=10 December 2013|title=Nelson Mandela memorial: The booing of Jacob Zuma shows that divisions still remain|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nelson-mandela-memorial-the-booing-of-jacob-zuma-shows-that-divisions-still-remain-8996467.html|access-date=13 January 2022|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Meredith|first=Charlotte|date=10 December 2013|title=Outrage As Jacob Zuma Is Booed At Nelson Mandela Memorial|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/10/jacob-zuma-nelson-mandela_n_4417586.html|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Huffington Post|language=en}} a draft of the Public Protector's provisional report had been leaked the previous week, or to dissatisfaction with Zuma's administration more generally.{{cite news|date=16 December 2013|title=The boos for Jacob Zuma represent Mandela's success|publisher=Al Jazeera|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/12/jacob-zuma-nelsonmandelasouthafricaanc.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114100632/http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/12/jacob-zuma-nelsonmandelasouthafricaanc.html|archive-date=14 January 2014}} Others suggested that the booing reflected frustration with the lack of socioeconomic change under the ANC government since Mandela's presidency, or that it reflected enduring divisions within the ANC; the crowd also chanted Mbeki's name. In a public statement, the ANC chastised those who had booed, saying they had embarrassed the country. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was criticised for having cut away from the booing in its live broadcast of the memorial.{{Cite web|date=11 December 2013|title=SABC censors footage of Zuma booing at Mandela memorial|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-11-sabc-censors-footage-of-mandela-memorial-zuma-booing/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

Despite an "Anyone but Zuma" campaign in the run-up to the ANC's 53rd National Conference,{{Cite web|last=Mthembu|first=Kwazi|date=10 October 2012|title=Collective leadership or ABZ are the options|url=https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/collective-leadership-or-abz-are-the-options-1399785|access-date=8 December 2021|website=IOL|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=22 November 2012|title=Nomura calls Mangaung for Zuma|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-11-22-nomura-calls-mangaung-for-zuma/|access-date=8 December 2021|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Zuma was re-elected ANC president on 18 December 2012, beating Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe by a large margin.{{cite news|date=18 December 2012|title=Zuma wins second term|newspaper=City Press|url=http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/zuma-wins-second-term/|url-status=dead|access-date=27 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609021313/http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/zuma-wins-second-term/|archive-date=9 June 2013}} Although in 2008 he had said that he would prefer to serve only one term as president,{{cite web|last=Monare|first=Moshoeshoe|date=28 July 2008|title=Zuma: I only want one term|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-i-only-want-one-term-409911|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130215915/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-i-only-want-one-term-1.409911#.ULjf3SA7uSo|archive-date=30 November 2012|access-date=30 November 2012|work=Independent Online}} Zuma became the ANC's sole presidential candidate in the 2014 national election. In January 2014, after he was heckled at Mandela's memorial, the Sunday Tribune reported that around November 2013, KwaZulu-Natal branches of the ANC had discussed a proposed resolution asking Zuma not to run for a second term as the country's president.{{cite news|last=Olifant|first=Nathi|date=26 January 2014|title=Stand down request for Zuma|work=Sunday Tribune|publisher=IOL|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/stand-down-request-for-zuma-1637053 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129005016/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/stand-down-request-for-zuma-1.1637053 |archive-date=29 January 2014}} However, ANC Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte dismissed rumours of disunity in the ANC saying, "The policy is that the president of the ANC is always the candidate for the election. We don't have another candidate and there will be no other candidate."{{cite news|date=18 January 2014|title=ANC united behind Zuma|work=IOL|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-united-behind-zuma-duarte-1.1633303#.Uts5kWQo7LY|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121041751/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-united-behind-zuma-duarte-1.1633303#.Uts5kWQo7LY|archive-date=21 January 2014}}

The ANC retained its majority in the national election, and on 21 May 2014, the National Assembly elected Zuma to a second term as president.{{cite web|date=21 May 2014|title=Zuma re-elected SA president|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-re-elected-sa-president-1.1691892|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714150932/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-re-elected-sa-president-1.1691892|archive-date=14 July 2014|access-date=18 June 2014|website=IOL}}

{{Main|Nkandla (homestead)}}{{Further|Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly}}File:President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead.jpg in KwaZulu-Natal]]Zuma began his second term amid ongoing controversy over what were officially security upgrades made with state funds to his private homestead at Nkandla. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela investigated, and in late November 2013 her draft report was leaked to the Mail & Guardian.{{cite web|date=29 November 2013|title=Nkandla report: Payback time, Zuma|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2013-11-28-payback-time-mr-president|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213180406/http://mg.co.za/article/2013-11-28-payback-time-mr-president|archive-date=13 December 2013|website=Mail & Guardian}} Similar to the final version of the report, titled "Secure in Comfort" and released on 19 March 2014,{{cite web |last=Ackroyd |first=Bianca |date=19 March 2014 |title=Damning Nkandla report finds Zuma must pay for upgrades |url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/damning-nkandla-report-finds-zuma-must-pay-upgrades |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325184419/https://www.enca.com/south-africa/damning-nkandla-report-finds-zuma-must-pay-upgrades |archive-date=25 March 2016 |website=eNCA}} the draft found that some of the Nkandla upgrades exceeded Zuma's security needs and recommended that Zuma should repay the state. The opposition, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and DA applied for legal recourse to compel Zuma to follow the recommendations in Madonsela's report, and the Constitutional Court found in their favour on 31 March 2016. In EFF v Speaker; DA v Speaker, the full court agreed that Madonsela's report was binding, meaning Zuma was required to repay the state for some of the Nkandla upgrades and that Zuma had failed to uphold the country's Constitution.{{cite news|last1=Thamm|first1=Marianne|date=31 March 2016|title=Nkandla ConCourt ruling: President Zuma and National Assembly in breach of Constitution|work=Daily Maverick|url=http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-03-31-nkandla-concourt-ruling-president-zuma-and-national-assembly-in-breach-of-constitution/#.Vvz5raT5jIW|url-status=live|access-date=31 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402022728/http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-03-31-nkandla-concourt-ruling-president-zuma-and-national-assembly-in-breach-of-constitution/#.Vvz5raT5jIW|archive-date=2 April 2016}} In a public address on 1 April, Zuma welcomed the judgment and apologised to the country,{{Cite web|date=1 April 2016|title=Zuma responds to ConCourt ruling|url=https://www.news24.com/News24/full-text-zuma-responds-to-concourt-ruling-20160401|access-date=13 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}} though legal academic Pierre de Vos said that the statement seriously misconstrued the judgment.{{Cite web|last=De Vos|first=Pierre|date=3 April 2016|title=Truth shall set you free, Mr Zuma|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2016-04-03-truth-shall-set-you-free-mr-zuma/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=5 April 2016|title=Zuma breached oath of office – De Vos|url=https://www.news24.com/News24/zuma-breached-oath-of-office-de-vos-20160405|access-date=13 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}}

The court's finding that Zuma had failed to uphold the Constitution subsequently provided the basis of an impeachment motion in Parliament, which was sponsored by the DA and defeated by a significant margin.{{Cite web|date=5 April 2016|title=South Africa's Jacob Zuma survives Nkandla impeachment vote|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35966916|access-date=13 January 2022|website=BBC News}} However, Zuma faced serious backlash in the aftermath of the Constitutional Court ruling,{{Cite web|last=Friedman|first=Steven|date=6 April 2016|title=Courts have done their bit, now it's up to politics|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/04/06/courts-have-done-their-bit-now-it-s-up-to-politics|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Business Day}}{{Cite web|last=Matshiqi|first=Aubrey|date=5 April 2016|title=Internal ANC politics will dictate leader's fate|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/04/05/internal-anc-politics-will-dictate-leaders-fate|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Business Day}} including criticism from the SACP,{{Cite web|last=Magome|first=Mogomotsi|date=3 April 2016|title=SACP not satisfied with Zuma's apology|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sacp-not-satisfied-with-zumas-apology-2004341|access-date=10 April 2016|website=IOL}} civil society,{{Cite web|last=Thakali|first=Thabiso|date=9 April 2016|title=Go, clerics urge Zuma|url=http://capeargus.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=cc32a487-8cec-4f4c-b6db-6aaeee59a99e&key=NmQEgJZ3jfsEr3bTv4dW1w%253d%253d&issue=69852016040900000000001001|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Weekend Argus}}{{Cite web|last=Poplak|first=Richard|date=6 April 2016|title=Trainspotter: #ZumaMustFall Take Two, this time for real|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-04-07-trainspotter-zumamustfall-take-two-this-time-for-real/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} several ANC stalwarts (including Ahmed Kathrada, Ronnie Kasrils, Trevor Manuel, and Cheryl Carolus),{{Cite web|date=2 April 2016|title=#AhmedKathrada: What he said in letter to Zuma|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/ahmedkathrada-what-he-said-in-letter-to-zuma-2004231|access-date=13 January 2022|website=IOL|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Grootes|first=Stephen|date=5 April 2016|title=Post ConCourt Nkandla ruling bombshell: Trevor Manuel joins the calls for Zuma's resignation|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-04-05-post-concourt-nkandla-ruling-bombshell-trevor-manuel-joins-the-calls-for-zumas-resignation/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} and several active factions of the ANC.{{Cite web|last=Hunter|first=Qaanitah|date=12 April 2016|title=ANC Gauteng has resolved that Zuma must resign|url=http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2016/04/12/anc-gauteng-has-resolved-that-zuma-must-resign|access-date=12 April 2016|website=Rand Daily Mail}}{{Cite web|last=Letsoalo|first=Matuma|date=12 April 2016|title=Gauteng ANC: Zuma must step down|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2016-04-12-gauteng-anc-zumas-apology-is-not-enough/|access-date=12 April 2016|website=Mail & Guardian}}{{Cite web |last=Magome |first=Mogomotsi |date=10 April 2016 |title=Zuma's faithful hit back |url=http://sundaytribune.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=f71c1794-3a18-4654-93fa-75e88560677d&key=BaGJCMkBU3%252bKnFXU8IFdAw%253d%253d&issue=70532016041000000000001001 |access-date=11 April 2016 |website=Sunday Tribune}}{{Cite web|date=12 April 2016|title=Zuma like PW Botha, says ANC veteran|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/04/12/zuma-like-pw-botha-says-anc-veteran|access-date=12 April 2016|website=Business Day}} Before the ruling, Zuma had faced and defeated five motions of no confidence in Parliament, three of which went to a vote.{{Cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=Kate |date=29 June 2017 |title=How many motions of no confidence has Zuma faced? |url=https://ewn.co.za/2017/06/29/fact-sheet-how-many-motions-of-no-confidence-has-zuma-faced |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=EWN |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Tolsi |first=Niren |date=27 August 2013 |title=Concourt dismisses DA appeal to force Zuma 'no confidence' debate |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-08-27-concourt-dismisses-appeal-to-force-zuma-no-confidence-debate/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=3 March 2015 |title=Agang SA withdraws motion of no confidence in President Zuma |url=https://www.news24.com/drum/News/agang-sa-withdraws-motion-of-no-confidence-in-president-zuma-20170728 |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Drum |language=en-US}} Following the ruling and failed impeachment motion, he faced three more in November 2016,{{Cite news |last=Nicolson |first=Greg |date=10 November 2016 |title=No confidence: ANC wins the vote, but Zuma suffers in battle |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-11-10-no-confidence-anc-wins-the-vote-but-zuma-suffers-in-battle/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} August 2017,{{Cite web |last=Allison |first=Simon |date=9 August 2017 |title=Jacob Zuma narrowly survives no-confidence vote in South African parliament |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/08/jacob-zuma-survives-no-confidence-vote-south-african-president |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} and February 2018.{{Cite news |last=Winning |first=Alexander |date=2 February 2018 |title=South Africa's Zuma faces new no-confidence vote this month |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics-idUSKBN1FM1B5 |access-date=14 January 2022}}

{{See also|Zondo Commission|Gupta family}}File:Atul_Gupta_protest_banner_-_Cape_Town_Zuma_must_fall.jpg supporters carry a placard depicting Atul Gupta at a Zuma Must Fall protest in Cape Town, April 2017|left]]Zuma's close and allegedly corrupt relationship with the Gupta family, known ANC donors,{{Cite news|last=Munusamy|first=Ranjeni|date=14 May 2013|title=Guptagate, the ANC and the continuous root of all evil|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-05-15-guptagate-the-anc-and-the-continuous-root-of-all-evil/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} became a major source of discontent both within the ANC{{cite web|date=1 February 2016|title=Zuma allies 'break ranks' with him over Guptas|url=http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2016/02/01/zuma-allies-break-ranks-with-him-over-guptas|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207235926/http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2016/02/01/zuma-allies-break-ranks-with-him-over-guptas|archive-date=7 February 2016|access-date=9 February 2016|website=Rand Daily Mail}} and among the South African public.{{cite web|author=Wild, Franz|date=17 December 2015|title=Gupta family seen as symbol of Zuma's failing rule|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2015-12-17-gupta-family-seen-as-symbol-of-zumas-failing-rule/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216032402/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/12/17/Gupta-family-seen-as-symbol-of-Zuma%E2%80%99s-failing-rule|archive-date=16 February 2016|access-date=9 February 2016|work=Sunday Times}}{{cite web|date=14 May 2013|title=Who are the Guptas?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318023327/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410|archive-date=18 March 2016|access-date=7 February 2016|website=BBC}}{{cite web|author=Munusamy, Ranjeni|date=1 February 2016|title=Keeping Up with the Guptas: What's behind the anti-Saxonwold revolt|url=http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-02-01-keeping-up-with-the-guptas-whats-behind-the-anti-saxonwold-revolt|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204055721/http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-02-01-keeping-up-with-the-guptas-whats-behind-the-anti-saxonwold-revolt/|archive-date=4 February 2016|access-date=9 February 2016|website=Daily Maverick}} This relationship received widespread public attention in April 2013 when the media reported that the Guptas had landed an Airbus A330 at Waterkloof Air Force Base without formal authorisation, but was welcomed by a police escort.{{Cite news|last=England|first=Andrew|date=3 May 2013|title=South Africa suspends five officials in plane scandal|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/97f2e45e-b3ef-11e2-b5a5-00144feabdc0|access-date=13 January 2022}}{{Cite web|date=30 April 2013|title=Guptas use Waterkloof airforce base as private landing strip|url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/guptas-use-waterkloof-airforce-base-private-landing-strip|access-date=13 January 2022|website=eNCA|language=en|archive-date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216121758/https://www.enca.com/south-africa/guptas-use-waterkloof-airforce-base-private-landing-strip|url-status=dead}} The political influence of the Guptas was one issue that was thought to have motivated a wave of anti-government protests in October 2015, and at Zuma's February 2016 State of the Nation address, the EFF coined the phrase "Zupta", a portmanteau of "Zuma" and "Gupta", when they disrupted the event by repeatedly chanting "Zupta must fall."{{cite web|date=11 February 2016|title='Zupta must fall' – and EFF walks out|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zupta-must-fall-and-eff-walks-out-20160211|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212084821/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zupta-must-fall-and-eff-walks-out-20160211|archive-date=12 February 2016|access-date=14 February 2016|website=News24}}{{cite web|last1=Hartley|first1=Wyndham|last2=Marrian|first2=Natasha|date=11 February 2016|title=Chaos as EFF once again delays speech and then stages walkout|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/02/11/chaos-as-eff-once-again-delays-speech-and-then-stages-walkout|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215050936/http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/02/11/chaos-as-eff-once-again-delays-speech-and-then-stages-walkout|archive-date=15 February 2016|access-date=14 February 2016|website=Business Day}}

In March 2016, allegations of state capture of the Zuma administration by the Gupta family were revived when two ANC politicians, Mcebisi Jonas and Vytjie Mentor, publicly claimed that the Guptas had offered them cabinet positions.{{Cite news|last=England|first=Andrew|date=16 March 2016|title=S Africa minister alleges Guptas offered him Treasury chief role|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/76f6b6dc-eb90-11e5-888e-2eadd5fbc4a4|access-date=13 January 2022}}{{Cite news |last=England |first=Andrew |date=17 March 2016 |title=Pressure on South Africa's Jacob Zuma grows over Gupta storm |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d1d15888-ec4d-11e5-bb79-2303682345c8 |access-date=13 January 2022}} The Guptas denied the allegations, as did Zuma who reminded Parliament that only he had the power to appoint ministers.{{cite web|date=23 March 2016|title=Zuma defends relationship with Guptas – report|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zuma-defends-relationship-with-guptas-report-20160323|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328160409/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zuma-defends-relationship-with-guptas-report-20160323|archive-date=28 March 2016|access-date=30 March 2016|website=News24}} Shortly thereafter, the former director-general of the Government Communication and Information System, Themba Maseko, told the Sunday Times that Zuma had asked him to "help" the Guptas and that the Guptas had subsequently asked him to channel government advertising tenders to their newspaper, the New Age.{{Cite web|last=Maromo|first=Jonisayi|date=23 March 2016|title=Leaders weigh in on 'pornographic' levels of state capture in SA|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2016-03-23-analysts-weigh-in-on-pornographic-levels-of-state-capture-in-sa/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

In mid-March 2016, Madonsela launched an investigation into state capture,{{Cite web |last=Thamm |first=Marianne |date=7 July 2016 |title=State Capture: Thuli's final quest for the truth – investigating the Guptas' political influence |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-07-08-state-capture-thulis-final-quest-for-the-truth-investigating-the-guptas-political-influence/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Savides|first=Matthew|date=18 March 2016|title=Public Protector will investigate Gupta family's 'state capture'|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2016-03-18-public-protector-will-investigate-gupta-familys-state-capture/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}} resulting in a report entitled "State of Capture" in November 2017. The report found prima facie evidence implicating Zuma and other state officials in various improprieties, including improper relationships with the Gupta family. It also recommended that Zuma should appoint a full commission of inquiry into state capture.{{Cite book|author=Public Protector South Africa|url=http://www.saflii.org/images/329756472-State-of-Capture.pdf|title=State of Capture (Report No. 6 of 2016/17)|publisher=SAFLII|year=2017}} Zuma applied to have Madonsela's report overturned in the high court, which dismissed his application and ordered him to appoint a commission. In January 2018, just over a month before he resigned, he established the Zondo Commission.{{Cite web|date=9 January 2018|title=Statement by President Jacob Zuma on the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry into State of Capture|url=https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/statement-president-jacob-zuma-establishment-commission-inquiry-state-capture|access-date=13 December 2021|website=The Presidency|language=en|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103012155/https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/statement-president-jacob-zuma-establishment-commission-inquiry-state-capture|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|last=Gous|first=Nico|date=9 January 2018|title=Zuma appoints commission of inquiry into state capture|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2018-01-09-zuma-appoints-commission-of-inquiry-into-state-capture/|access-date=13 December 2021|website=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}}

File:Anti-Zuma protest Cape Town.jpg protest in Cape Town, 7 April 2017]]Zuma was criticised for a lack of stability in his cabinet. During his two terms in office, he implemented twelve cabinet reshuffles, and some of his appointments unsettled financial markets,{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=18 October 2017 |title=Jacob Zuma Is Presiding Over His 12th Cabinet After Tuesday's Shock Reshuffle – Is It A State Of Organised Chaos? |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2017/10/17/jacob-zuma-is-presiding-over-his-12th-cabinet-after-tuesdays-shock-reshuffle-is-it-a-state-of-organised-chaos_a_23246216/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Huffington Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Van Onselen |first=Gareth |date=17 October 2017 |title=This is the breakdown of all 12 Jacob Zuma Cabinet reshuffles |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2017-10-17-this-is-the-breakdown-of-all-12-jacob-zuma-cabinet-reshuffles/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Business Day |language=en-ZA}} such as when Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was replacedwith the little-known backbencher Des van Rooyen in the 9 December 2015 reshuffle.{{cite web |author=Letsoalo, Matuma |date=9 December 2015 |title=Nhlanhla Nene removed as finance minister |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2015-12-09-nhlanhla-nene-removed-as-finance-minister |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109073930/http://mg.co.za/article/2015-12-09-nhlanhla-nene-removed-as-finance-minister |archive-date=9 January 2016 |access-date=5 January 2016 |website=Mail & Guardian}} The political response was so hostile that van Rooyen was replaced by Pravin Gordhan after four days in office.{{cite web |last=Zibi |first=Songezo |date=22 December 2015 |title=SAA is an invaluable case study for democratic accountability |url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2015/12/22/saa-is-an-invaluable-case-study-for-democratic-accountability |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224214608/http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2015/12/22/saa-is-an-invaluable-case-study-for-democratic-accountability |archive-date=24 December 2015 |access-date=31 December 2015 |website=Business Day}}{{cite web |author=Munusamy, Ranjeni |date=14 December 2015 |title=Zuma climbs down, Gordhan takes up SA's rescue mission |url=http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-12-14-zuma-climbs-down-gordhan-takes-up-sas-rescue-mission/#.VovuaPl96Uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109073931/http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-12-14-zuma-climbs-down-gordhan-takes-up-sas-rescue-mission/#.VovuaPl96Uk |archive-date=9 January 2016 |access-date=5 January 2016 |website=The Daily Maverick}} Later, on 31 March 2017, Gordhan was sacked and replaced by Malusi Gigaba. Gordhan's deputy Jonas, who had alleged corruption by the Guptas a year earlier, was also fired.{{cite news|date=30 March 2017|title=President Jacob Zuma has fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan|work=Mail & Guardian|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-30-report-president-jacob-zuma-has-fired-finance-minister-pravin-gordhan|url-status=live|access-date=12 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404220417/https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-30-report-president-jacob-zuma-has-fired-finance-minister-pravin-gordhan|archive-date=4 April 2017}} The reshuffle was criticised by senior ANC leaders including Deputy President Ramaphosa,{{cite web|last1=Onishi|first1=Norimitsu|last2=Chanmarch|first2=Sewell|date=31 March 2017|title=Firing of South Africa's Finance Minister Widens a Political Rift|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/africa/south-africa-pravin-gordhan-jacob-zuma.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207013709/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/africa/south-africa-pravin-gordhan-jacob-zuma.html |archive-date=7 December 2017|website=The New York Times}} from the SACP,{{cite news|date=4 April 2017|title=ANC MPs shouldn't wait for opposition to act against Zuma – SACP|work=702|url=http://www.702.co.za/articles/250971/anc-mps-shouldn-t-wait-for-opposition-to-act-against-zuma-sacp|url-status=live|access-date=12 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407101319/http://www.702.co.za/articles/250971/anc-mps-shouldn-t-wait-for-opposition-to-act-against-zuma-sacp|archive-date=7 April 2017}} and from members of the public, who, on 7 April, launched protests against Zuma and his government in several of South Africa's major cities.{{Cite web |last=Frassinelli |first=Pier Paolo |date=22 April 2017 |title=Survey sheds light on who marched against Zuma and why |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-04-22-survey-sheds-light-on-who-marched-against-zuma-and-why/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Another march on the Union Buildings on 12 April, Zuma's birthday, was organised by a coalition of seven opposition parties. It attracted tens of thousands of protesters and the Mail & Guardian said that it was "possibly the largest march in post-apartheid history".{{Cite news|last=Cotterill|first=Joseph|date=12 April 2017|title=Thousands join South Africa opposition march urging Zuma to resign|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/cc4bad40-1f97-11e7-b7d3-163f5a7f229c|access-date=14 January 2022}}

{{Further|54th National Conference of the African National Congress}}

From 2015, Zuma was understood to favour his ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to succeed him as ANC president and therefore, presumptively, as national president. His critics claimed that he would use his relationship with Dlamini-Zuma to retain control of the ANC and the state, and avoid prosecution on corruption charges.{{Cite news|date=11 April 2016|title=Dlamini-Zuma touted as next president|language=en|work=The Citizen|url=http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1070471/dlamini-zuma-touted-as-next-president/|url-status=live|access-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429000225/http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1070471/dlamini-zuma-touted-as-next-president/|archive-date=29 April 2017}}{{Cite news|last=Tau|first=Steven|date=29 April 2017|title=Zuma wants to continue controlling ANC using ex-wife – analyst|language=en|work=The Citizen|url=http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1499467/zumas-scary-third-term-ploy/|url-status=live|access-date=29 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429071309/http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1499467/zumas-scary-third-term-ploy/|archive-date=29 April 2017}}{{Cite news|last=Du Preez|first=Max|date=2 May 2017|title=Could it be Gerrie Nel vs Jacob Zuma?|work=News24|url=http://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/gerrie-nel-could-be-our-last-hope-to-get-rid-of-zuma-20170502|url-status=live|access-date=2 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502093837/http://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/gerrie-nel-could-be-our-last-hope-to-get-rid-of-zuma-20170502|archive-date=2 May 2017}} She campaigned on a platform of economic transformation – so that the pro-Dlamini-Zuma faction became known as the RET faction – while her challenger, Ramaphosa, emphasised anti-corruption.{{cite web|author=Derrick Spies|date=23 April 2017|title=Ramaphosa 'launches' campaign with attack on Zuma, Guptas|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/ramaphosa-launches-campaign-with-attack-on-zuma-guptas-20170423|access-date=6 June 2017|website=News24}}{{Cite web|date=29 September 2017|title=What NDZ stands for|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-09-29-00-return-our-land-to-the-people-ndz/|access-date=7 December 2021|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} On 18 December 2017, at the ANC's 54th National Conference, Ramaphosa narrowly beat Dlamini-Zuma in a vote and succeeded Zuma as ANC president.{{cite web|last=Herman|first=Paul|date=18 December 2017|title=Ramaphosa wins ANC presidency|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/live-anc-voting-results-expected-20171218|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218170001/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/live-anc-voting-results-expected-20171218|archive-date=18 December 2017|access-date=13 February 2018|website=News24}}

Once Ramaphosa replaced Zuma as ANC president, there was growing pressure for the latter to resign from the national presidency. On 6 February 2018, Zuma's annual State of the Nation Address, scheduled for 8 February, was postponed indefinitely "to create room for establishing a much more conducive political atmosphere".{{cite news|last1=Marrian|first1=Natasha|last2=Magubane|first2=Khulekani|date=6 February 2018|title=State of nation address postponed|work=Business Day|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-02-06-state-of-nation-address-postponed/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073305/https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-02-06-state-of-nation-address-postponed/|archive-date=14 February 2018}} The following week, Ramaphosa and Zuma spent almost five days in talks. On 12 December, when it became clear that the negotiations had failed, the ANC National Executive Committee convened an emergency meeting near Pretoria, and, after nearly ten hours of debate, decided that Zuma should be "recalled" by the party if he did not resign voluntarily. Ramaphosa and another senior official reportedly drove to Zuma's home just after midnight to deliver the ultimatum, but Zuma refused, insisting on a three-month notice period or transition period before leaving office.{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=13 February 2018|title=Jacob Zuma defies order from South Africa's ANC to resign|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/reports-that-south-africa-president-jacob-zuma-has-resigned-dismissed-by-anc|access-date=14 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} On 13 December, the National Executive Committee publicly announced its intention to recall Zuma.{{cite web|last1=De Klerk|first1=Aphiwe|last2=Macanda|first2=Siphe|date=13 February 2018|title=ANC confirms it has recalled Jacob Zuma|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2018-02-13-anc-confirms-it-has-recalled-jacob-zuma/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213200128/https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2018-02-13-anc-confirms-it-has-recalled-jacob-zuma/|archive-date=13 February 2018|work=Sunday Times}} As a party-political body, it formally lacked the authority to remove sitting presidents, though it could instruct the ANC caucus, which controlled Parliament, to remove Zuma through a motion of no confidence if he did not resign at its request.{{Cite web|last=Merten|first=Marianne|date=14 February 2018|title=President's End: While Zuma did resign, Parliament had a plan anyway|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-15-presidents-end-while-zuma-did-resign-parliament-had-a-plan-anyway/|access-date=14 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}File:South African President Jacob Zuma in Isfahan 03.jpg in 2016]]

At dawn on 14 February, there was a police raid at the Johannesburg home of the Gupta family, which the Hawks said was related to an investigation into state capture.{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=14 February 2018|title=Effort to oust Jacob Zuma turns to option of no-confidence vote|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/gupta-family-south-african-police-raid-zuma-anc|access-date=14 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Baleka Mbete, the Speaker of the National Assembly, announced that the EFF's motion of no confidence in Zuma had been moved forward in the parliamentary schedule, and that it would now be voted on the following day instead of on 22 February.{{Cite web|date=14 February 2018|title=Speaker Baleka Mbete reschedules motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma|url=https://www.gov.za/speeches/speaker-baleka-mbete-reschedules-motion-no-confidence-president-jacob-zuma-14-feb-2018-0000|access-date=14 January 2022|website=South African Government}} She told journalists that "the recall, most definitely official, is now being implemented by this institution [Parliament]". The ANC announced that it planned to support the opposition's motion, which would ensure its passage.{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=14 February 2018|title=Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa's president on eve of no-confidence vote|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/jacob-zuma-resigns-south-africa-president|access-date=14 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Shortly afterwards, Zuma gave a long live television interview on SABC on 14 February 2018, arguing that he had done nothing wrong and had not been given reasons for his recall. He said that he disagreed with the ANC's decision and was being "victimised".{{Cite web|last=Davis|first=Rebecca|date=14 February 2018|title=Jacob Zuma digs in his heels: 'I'm being victimised here'|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-14-jacob-zuma-digs-in-his-heels-im-being-victimised-here/|access-date=14 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} He also said that if he was dismissed, the ANC could be "plunged in a crisis that I'm sure my comrade leaders will regret". According to a later report by City Press, during this period elements of the South African National Defence Force and State Security Agency were unsuccessfully lobbied to launch a revolt to prevent Zuma's removal.{{Cite news|date=22 July 2018|title=How Ramaphosa 'dodged a coup' – security bosses reveal all|language=en|work=News24|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/security-bosses-reveal-how-cyril-dodged-a-coup-20180722-2|access-date=8 November 2018}}

On the same day, in a live televised address just before 11 p.m., Zuma announced his immediate resignation.{{cite news|date=14 February 2018|title=Time's up: Jacob Zuma has resigned|work=Mail & Guardian|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-14-zuma-address|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214210738/https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-14-zuma-address|archive-date=14 February 2018}} In his speech, he said that he accepted the ANC's decision but had asked its leadership to "articulate my transgressions and the reason for its immediate instruction that I vacate office". He claimed that he had earlier had an agreement with the party that if he resigned it would be after "a period of transition".{{Cite web|date=15 February 2018|title='I do not fear exiting political office': Zuma's resignation speech|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2018-02-15-in-full--zumas-resignation-speech/|access-date=14 January 2022|website=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}} He said:

Make no mistake, no leader should stay beyond the time determined by the people they serve... No life should be lost in my name and also the ANC should never be divided in my name... I have therefore come to the decision to resign as President of the Republic with immediate effect. Even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organisation, I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC. As I leave I will continue to serve the people of South Africa as well as the ANC, the organisation I have served all my life. I will dedicate all of my energy to work towards the attainment of the policies of our organisation, in particular the radical economic transformation agenda.

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Doek met afbeeldingen van Jacob Zuma TMnr 6369-4.jpg

The week after his resignation, Zuma attended a farewell cocktail party in his honour, hosted by Ramaphosa at Tuynhuys in Cape Town and attended by other members of cabinet.{{Cite web|date=21 February 2018|title=Zuma and Ramaphosa all smiles at farewell party|url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/zuma-and-ramaphosa-all-smiles-at-farewell-party-20180221|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Citypress|language=en-US}} Although former presidents are invited to all State of the Nation addresses, Zuma did not attend Ramaphosa's addresses in 2018, 2019, or 2020.{{Cite web|last=Malingo|first=Batandwa|date=12 February 2020|title=Jacob Zuma to attend Sona with other former presidents, says parliament|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2020-02-12-jacob-zuma-to-attend-sona-with-other-former-presidents-says-parliament/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Sunday Times|language=en-ZA}}

{{Further|Jacob Zuma corruption charges#2018–present: Third indictment|label1=Jacob Zuma corruption charges § Third indictment}}

On 16 March 2018, a month after Zuma resigned from the presidency, the NPA announced that he would again face prosecution on the same 16 criminal charges he was indicted on in 2006: 12 charges of fraud, two of corruption, and one each of racketeering and money laundering, all related to the 1999 Arms Deal and to Zuma's relationship with Shaik.{{cite news|date=16 March 2018|title=Jacob Zuma: Former South African president faces corruption trial|work=BBC News|agency=|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43426971|access-date=16 March 2018}} The case was enrolled in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Zuma pleaded not guilty when the trial began on 26 May 2021.{{cite news|last=Burke|first=Jason|author-link=Jason Burke|date=26 May 2021|title=Jacob Zuma trial: South Africa's ex-president denies corruption charges|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/jacob-zuma-trial-south-africas-ex-president-denies-corruption-charges|access-date=24 September 2021}} As of May 2024, the trial was scheduled to resume in late April 2025 after many appeals by Zuma.{{Cite web |last=Imary |first=Gerald |date=16 May 2024 |title=Ex-South African leader's corruption trial date set as he fights another case to run for election |url=https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-zuma-corruption-trial-election-57a18e09aab05a1e5beb1890e61ca1c4 |access-date=2 June 2024 |website=Associated Press}}

File:Jacob_Zuma_at_the_Zondo_Commission.png, 17 July 2019]]

At the instruction of the Public Protector and high court, in January 2018 Zuma established the Zondo Commission to investigate fraud, corruption, and state capture in the public sector in South Africa. Zuma was scheduled to testify before the commission for five days in mid-July 2019, and on Monday 15 July he opened his testimony by claiming that the commission was part of a decades-long "character assassination"{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=15 July 2019|title=Zuma tells South Africa corruption inquiry he is victim of foreign plot|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/15/jacob-zuma-south-africa-corruption-inquiry|access-date=13 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} conspiracy against him.{{Cite web|last=Maughan|first=Karyn|date=15 July 2019|title=Zondo inquiry is part of intelligence plot to 'get rid' of me, Jacob Zuma says|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2019-07-15-zondo-inquiry-is-part-of-intelligence-plot-to-get-rid-of-me-jacob-zuma-says/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Business Day|language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web|last=Mailovich|first=Claudi|date=19 July 2019|title=Jacob Zuma pulls out of state capture inquiry|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2019-07-19-jacob-zuma-pulls-out-of-state-capture-inquiry/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Business Day|language=en-ZA}} He denied the veracity of several other witnesses' testimony and questioned the appropriateness of the phrase "state capture", which he said was used to discredit him. If the whole state had truly been captured, he argued that the commission should investigate the judiciary and Parliament as well as the executive branch of government.{{Cite web|last=Bezuidenhout|first=Jessica|date=15 July 2019|title=The Essence of Zuma, Day One: 'State Capture Commission is designed to bury me'|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-07-16-the-essence-of-zuma-day-one-state-capture-commission-is-designed-to-bury-me/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} After the hearings, Zuma addressed supporters who gathered outside the commission's offices in Johannesburg.{{Cite web|last=Tolsi|first=Niren|date=24 July 2019|title=Zuma's Zondo testimony was like a five-day Test|url=https://www.newframe.com/zumas-zondo-testimony-was-like-a-five-day-test/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=New Frame}}

Before the end of the third day of testimony on Wednesday 17 July, chairperson Ray Zondo adjourned proceedings so that the commission could meet with Zuma and his lawyers in order to discuss Zuma's grievances about his treatment by the commission.{{Cite web|date=19 July 2019|title=Zuma retracts decision to withdraw from the Zondo commission|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/live-will-jacob-zuma-drop-more-bombs-at-state-capture-inquiry-20190719|access-date=13 January 2022|website=News24|language=en-US}} On the morning of Friday 19 July, his lawyer announced that Zuma would "take no further part" in the commission's proceedings and would consider court action. Zuma felt that he had been treated like an accused criminal rather than as a witness and that he had been relentlessly cross-examined – though the head of the commission's legal team pointed out that his cross-examination had not yet begun. Later that day Zondo announced that they had come to an agreement: the commission had acquiesced to Zuma's demand to furnish him with specific allegations in advance, and Zuma would provide written statements in response.{{Cite web|last=Bezuidenhout|first=Jessica|date=19 July 2019|title=Days of Zondo: Zuma's Zondo showing to continue after compromise deal|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-07-19-zumas-zondo-showing-to-continue-after-compromise-deal/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}

In subsequent months, Zuma appeared reluctant to cooperate with the commission, and he did not provide further testimony before it. Zondo issued a summons for Zuma's appearance in the week of 16 November 2020,{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=9 October 2020 |title=Jacob Zuma out of runway as Judge Zondo gives thumbs-up to state capture inquiry summons |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-10-09-jacob-zuma-out-of-runway-as-judge-zondo-gives-thumbs-up-for-state-capture-inquiry-summons/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} but Zuma applied to have Zondo recuse himself from proceedings. Zuma claimed that he and Zondo were friends, which Zondo denied,{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=18 November 2020 |title=Recusal judgment delayed as Jacob Zuma tables new details of 'friendship' with judge Zondo |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-11-18-recusal-judgment-delayed-as-jacob-zuma-tables-new-details-of-friendship-with-judge-zondo/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} and that there was a conflict of interest arising from their "historical family relations".{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=29 October 2020 |title=Judge Zondo raises the stakes on Jacob Zuma's plan to use family ties in recusal application |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-10-29-judge-zondo-raises-the-stakes-on-jacob-zumas-plan-to-use-family-ties-in-recusal-application/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} On the latter point, Zondo conceded that he had had a child with the sister of Zuma's third wife, Thobeka Madiba-Zuma, but pointed out that their relationship had ended in the 1990s, before Zuma and Madiba-Zuma met. On Thursday 19 November, Zondo dismissed Zuma's application for his recusal. When the commission heard Zuma's testimony, Zondo announced that Zuma had left during a break without being excused.{{Cite web |last=Tolsi |first=Niren |date=30 November 2020 |title=Zuma maintains his true colours at Zondo commission |url=https://mg.co.za/news/2020-11-30-zuma-maintains-his-true-colours-at-zondo-commission/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=19 November 2020 |title=Zuma does a runner after Zondo sets out a three-part judicial smackdown to recusal bid |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-11-19-dismissed-judge-zondo-delivers-a-three-part-judicial-smackdown-to-jacob-zumas-recusal-bid/ |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} He did not return on 20 November.

{{Main|Jacob Zuma contempt of court}}

File:Raymond Zondo.png chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo]]

In early December, the commission issued summonses for Zuma to appear before it in the weeks of 18 January and 15 February 2021 and applied to the Constitutional Court for an order compelling Zuma to comply with the summonses,{{Cite web|last=Quintal|first=Genevieve|date=4 December 2020|title=Zondo sets down new dates for Zuma to appear at commission|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2020-12-04-zondo-sets-down-new-dates-for-zuma-to-appear-at-commission/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Business Day|language=en-ZA}} which was granted on 28 January.{{Cite web|last=Nicolson|first=Greg|date=28 January 2021|title=Final order: ConCourt rules Jacob Zuma must appear and answer questions at Zondo Commission|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-28-final-order-concourt-rules-jacob-zuma-must-appear-and-answer-questions-at-zondo-commission/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}{{cite news|last=Cele|first=S'thembile|date=28 January 2021|title=South African Court Rules Zuma Must Testify at Graft Inquiry|work=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-28/south-african-court-rules-zuma-must-testify-at-graft-inquiry|access-date=31 January 2021}} When Zuma did not comply with the February summons, in open defiance of the court order, the commission approached the Constitutional Court and asked it to sentence Zuma to two years' imprisonment for contempt of court.{{Cite web|last=Nicolson|first=Greg|date=25 March 2021|title=Zuma and the ConCourt: The punishing of the ex-president could lead to the making of a martyr|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-25-zuma-and-the-concourt-the-punishing-of-the-ex-president-could-lead-to-the-making-of-a-martyr/|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}} Zuma refused to participate in the contempt proceedings, although he complained of bias, and on 29 June 2021 he was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.{{Cite news|last1=Eligon|first1=John|last2=Chutel|first2=Lynsey|date=29 June 2021|title=South African Court Orders Arrest of Ex-President Jacob Zuma for Contempt|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/world/africa/jacob-zuma-prison.html|access-date=13 January 2022|issn=0362-4331}}

Zuma was given until 4 July to hand himself in, after which the police would have until 7 July to arrest him forcibly.{{Cite news|date=7 July 2021|title=Jacob Zuma: Deadline looms for South African police to arrest former president|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57748129|access-date=13 January 2022}} The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association warned that his arrest would destabilise the country,{{Cite web|date=3 July 2021|title=South Africa's top court agrees to hear Zuma challenge|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/3/s-africas-zuma-conviction-to-be-reviewed-by-top-court|access-date=13 January 2022|website=Al Jazeera|language=en}} and hundreds of supporters gathered outside his Nkandla residence, threatening violence if he was detained.{{Cite news|last=Eligon|first=John|date=7 July 2021|title=Jacob Zuma, Former South African President, Is Arrested|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/world/africa/jacob-zuma-arrested-south-africa.html|access-date=13 January 2022|issn=0362-4331}} Zuma told the press that he had been sentenced without trial, saying that it might "remind our people of the apartheid days", and told a rally in Nkandla:

I fought for freedom. I was fighting for these very rights. No one will take my rights away. Even the dead that I fought against during the liberation struggle will turn in their graves.

In December 2023, Zuma announced that, while planning to remain a lifelong member of the ANC, he would not be campaigning for the ANC in the 2024 South African general election, and would instead be voting for a newly-formed party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK Party).{{Cite web |title=The battle for the soul of uMkhonto weSizwe |url=https://www.polity.org.za/article/the-battle-for-the-soul-of-umkhonto-wesizwe-2023-12-18 |access-date=22 December 2023 |website=www.polity.org.za |language=en}} He stated that "I cannot and will not" campaign for the ANC of current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor, and that to do so would be a 'betrayal'.{{Cite web |last=Mutsila |first=Lerato |date=17 December 2023 |title=Jacob Zuma ditches ANC in 2024 elections, vows 'total liberation |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-12-17-jacob-zuma-ditches-anc-in-2024-elections-vows-total-liberation/ |access-date=23 December 2023 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Former South African president Zuma leaves ANC |url=https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/mk-veterans-slam-former-president-jacob-zuma-for-his-conduct/ar-AA1lFgEj |access-date=23 December 2023 |website=www.msn.com}} On 29 January 2024, Zuma was suspended from the ANC for his endorsement of the MK Party.{{Cite news |date=29 January 2024 |title=South Africa: ANC suspends ex-President Jacob Zuma after rival party launch |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68129365 |access-date=29 January 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The ANC approached South Africa's electoral court and contended that Zuma's registration of the MK Party was "unlawful" (as it was a name of the ANC's military wing) and also took on the country's Electoral Commission for allowing its registration.[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-19-anc-demands-zumas-mk-party-take-the-spear-in-unlawful-registration-spat-before-electoral-court/ ANC insists registration of MK Party is "unlawful"], Daily Maverick, 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024 Lawyers for the MK Party told the court that the ANC knew about the existence of the party since its registration in September 2023 but wondered why they waited this long for Zuma to endorse it before challenging it.[https://www.news24.com/news24/politics/anc-knew-about-mk-party-but-did-nothing-until-zuma-endorsed-it-lawyers-tell-court-20240222 ANC knew about MK Party but nothing until Zuma to endorsed it, lawyers tell court], News24. Retrieved 22 February 2024 Judges for the electoral court then dismissed the ANC's request and found that the MK Party's registration was lawful.[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-26-first-blood-anc-fails-in-bid-to-deregister-zumas-mk-party-before-electoral-court/ ANC fails in bid to deregister Zuma's MK Party], Daily Maverick, 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.

Just two weeks after his suspension from the ANC, the ANC alliance partner, SANCO, in KZN announced on 16 February 2024 that it had expelled Zuma because of absenteeism. Zuma had served as provincial chairperson of SANCO since 19 November 2023 after being elected unopposed in absentia at the organisation's conference in Durban. The organisation said since his election Zuma never attended a single meeting and its provincial executive committee took the decision to get rid of him and find a replacement.[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-16-jacob-zuma-expelled-as-kzn-sanco-chair-over-repeated-absenteeism/#:~:text=The%20Provincial%20Conference%20of%20Sanco,a%20single%20meeting%20of%20Sanco. Jacob Zuma expelled as KZN chair over repeated absenteeism], Daily Maverick, 16 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024[https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-aligned-sanco-expels-jacob-zuma-as-kzn-provincial-chairperson-49c475b3-1451-4616-96f0-76cae80af31f ANC-aligned SANCO expels Jacob Zuma as KZN provincial chair], IOL. Retrieved 19 February 2024 On 28 March 2024, Zuma was banned from running in the 2024 South African general election over his 2021 conviction and jailing for contempt of court as the South African law doesn't allow convicted candidates to stand for public office.{{Cite news |date=28 March 2024 |title=Jacob Zuma barred from running in South Africa elections |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68689044 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} On 20 May 2024, the Constitutional Court of South Africa would also bar Zuma from the running for parliament in the 2024 election, ruling that his early release was irrelevant.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22l7mlxdzo|title=South Africa's top court bars Zuma from standing in election|first1=Rafieka|last1=Williams|first2=Farouk|last2=Chothia|publisher=BBC|date=20 May 2024|accessdate=29 May 2024}}

Having been a member of the African National Congress for over 45 years, his support for the rival party led to him being expelled from the ANC on 29 July 2024.{{Cite news |last=Chutel |first=Lynsey |date=29 July 2024 |title=Jacob Zuma, Ex-President of South Africa, Is Expelled From A.N.C. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/world/africa/jacob-zuma-expelled-anc.html |access-date=29 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Jacob Zuma, 2009 World Economic Forum on Africa-10.jpg

Zuma's "charisma and affable personality"{{Cite web |last=Makhanya |first=Mondli |date=17 December 2017 |title=Jacob Zuma: A man who knew power – raw power |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/special-report/anc_conference/jacob-zuma-a-man-who-knew-power-raw-power-20171217 |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Citypress |language=en-US}} is at the centre of his public image, and is thought to be responsible for much of his political popularity.{{Cite web |last=Harding |first=Andrew |date=15 December 2017 |title=The trials of Jacob Zuma |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Trials_of_Jacob_Zuma |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=6 April 2018 |title=Jacob Zuma – the survivor whose nine lives ran out |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17450447 |access-date=14 January 2022 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=19 April 2009 |title=Jacob Zuma the chameleon brings South Africans joy and fear |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/20/zuma-south-africa-politics |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} His charisma is most fully on display at his political rallies, which sociologist Roger Southall describes as laden with "political theatre" and "popular idiom",{{Cite journal |last=Southall |first=Roger |date=1 October 2020 |title=Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma as charismatic buffoons |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17533171.2020.1832799 |journal=Safundi |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=382–393 |doi=10.1080/17533171.2020.1832799 |issn=1753-3171 |s2cid=228887576|url-access=subscription }} especially through song – his longstanding trademark is uMkhonto we Sizwe anthem "Umshini wami" (English: Bring Me My Machine Gun), but he also became associated with "Yinde lendlela" (English: It's a Long Journey) after the ANC's Mangaung conference in 2012.{{Cite web |last=Shoba |first=Sandisiwe |date=6 May 2019 |title=Inside KZN: A tale of two presidents — greeted very differently |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-05-06-inside-kzn-a-tale-of-two-presidents-greeted-very-differently/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Tolsi |first=Niren |date=18 January 2019 |title=Msholozi desperately tries for another (political) hit |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2019-01-18-00-msholozi-desperately-tries-for-another-political-hit/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Khumalo |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Khumalo |date=23 December 2012 |title=Zuma's song |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2012-12-23-zumas-song/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}} Journalist Alec Russell wrote in 2009, "When Zuma gets in front of these crowds, he is more than a politician: briefly, he becomes something closer to a revivalist preacher, or the leader of a cult."{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Alec |date=17 April 2009 |title=The next president of South Africa |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f4f4b2ec-288c-11de-8dbf-00144feabdc0 |access-date=14 January 2022 |work=Financial Times}}

Zuma is known for his sense of humour, and to the disapproval of opposition politicians, as president he frequently joked during his addresses to Parliament, including the mockery of the Democratic Alliance's fixation on the Nkandla scandal.{{Cite web |date=27 May 2015 |title='Nkandla' Nkandla' Nkandla' ... he he heh!': Zuma mocks opposition |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2015-05-27-nkandla-nkandla-nkandla--he-he-heh-zuma-mocks-opposition/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Merten |first=Marianne |date=20 November 2015 |title=It's all a big joke to Zuma |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/its-all-a-big-joke-to-zuma-1948223 |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=IOL |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gqirana |first=Thulani |date=27 May 2015 |title=Zuma jokes and mocks his way through speech |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2015-05-27-zuma-jokes-and-mocks-his-way-through-budget-vote-debate/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=18 May 2016 |title=MPs mimic Zuma's laugh in Parliament |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/123921/watch-entire-parliament-mimics-zumas-laugh/ |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=BusinessTech |language=en-US}} On 1 April 2015, his office released a statement about new cabinet appointments which was later revealed as an April Fools' Day prank on the media.{{Cite web |date=1 April 2015 |title=Zuma has last laugh on the media on April Fool's Day |url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/zuma-has-last-laugh-media-april-fools-day |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=eNCA |language=en}} Some have said that one factor in Zuma's popularity is what Southall calls "the politics of charismatic buffoonery". In one phrase, his public persona has been "constructed as sometimes slightly gormless, but warm and accessible".{{Cite journal |last1=Piper |first1=Laurence |last2=Matisonn |first2=Heidi |date=1 July 2009 |title=Democracy by Accident: The Rise of Zuma and the Renaissance of the Tripartite Alliance |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00344890902945657 |journal=Representation |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=143–157 |doi=10.1080/00344890902945657 |issn=0034-4893 |s2cid=55159870 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10566/482}} Mondli Makhanya wrote:

Zuma's other great strength was that he did not mind looking stupid. And so he sang and danced at will. Whereas other politicians use this as an election gimmick, Zuma did it all the time and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. In Parliament and on public platforms he laughed and giggled as if he had inhaled a potent hallucinogenic. The more stupid he looked, the more it seemed to endear him to the people.

File:Pyeongchang wins bid to host 2018 Winter Olympics - 5910854350.jpg in 2011]]

As a politician, he was viewed as an accessible figure – "a simple man, a man of the people", and a good listener.{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Robyn |author-link=Robyn Dixon (journalist) |date=12 October 2008 |title=Zuma is a mystery in S. Africa |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-12-fg-zuma12-story.html |access-date=14 January 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en |location=Johannesburg}} In a 2009 interview, Zuma said that apartheid-era ANC president Oliver Tambo inspired his public posture:

While Tambo was a great thinker, he was very simple. There is nothing he did not do... When people came to him he attended to them. He would even attend to somebody who comes to raise the issue of the shoe that doesn't have shoelaces, he would ensure that the shoelaces were found... I am not a great man. I am a man of the people. I believe in people and I think that the people are everything. Once there is disconnection with the people you have problems.{{Cite web |last=Booysen |first=Susan |date=2015-11-16 |title=Jacob Zuma likes to be cast as a man of the people – but is he? |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2015-11-16-jacob-zuma-likes-to-be-cast-as-a-man-of-the-people-but-is-he/ |access-date=2022-01-14 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

{{Criticism section|date=May 2025}}

In 2010, Zuma's bodyguards were implicated in multiple incidents involving members of the public and journalists.

In February, a Cape Town student, Chumani Maxwele, was detained by police after allegedly showing Zuma's motorcade a "rude gesture". Maxwele, an active ANC member,{{cite web |work=Independent Online |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/pic-zuma-cops-lock-up-jogger-473729 |title=PIC: Zuma cops lock up jogger |location=South Africa |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623081841/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=6&art_id=vn20100217062211616C809058 |archive-date=23 June 2010 }} was released after 24 hours, having provided a written apology to police, which he later claimed was coerced. He also claimed that his home had been raided by plain-clothes policemen, and that he had been forced into the vehicle at gunpoint. Maxwele later instituted legal action against the police,{{cite web |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article327217.ece |title=Zuma jogger to sue police |publisher=Times LIVE |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301132945/http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article327217.ece |archive-date=1 March 2010 }} and a complaint was filed on his behalf to the Human Rights Commission.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article351461.ece |title=Zuma jogger case to go to HRC |publisher=Times LIVE |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314074010/http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article351461.ece |archive-date=14 March 2010 }} The incident led to a heated dispute when it was discussed in Parliament.{{cite web |work=Independent Online |url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20100304043526705C821173 |title=News – Crime & Courts: MPs blast arrest of jogger |location=South Africa |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821113237/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 |archive-date=21 August 2010 }}

In March, journalist Tshepo Lesole was forced to delete pictures of Zuma's convoy from his camera by police, and two photographers were detained by police when photographing Zuma's Johannesburg home.{{cite news |url=https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/mail-and-guardian-disturbed-by-zuma-house-incident-813364 |title=Mail & Guardian 'disturbed' by Zuma house incident |work=Independent Online |date=18 March 2010 |access-date=19 February 2018 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|title=Zille: Zuma must rein in his bullies|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-03-17-zille-zuma-must-rein-in-his-bullies/|date=17 March 2010|website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA|access-date=29 May 2020}} Sky News reporter Emma Hurd claimed she had been pushed, manhandled and "groped" by Zuma's bodyguards in 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/article363660.ece |title=Zuma's bodyguards groped me: reporter |publisher=Times LIVE |date=19 March 2010 |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322193459/http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/article363660.ece |archive-date=22 March 2010 }}

In January 2012, Zuma gave a speech at the ANC Centennial 2012 celebrations in Bloemfontein and, afterwards, sang the controversial song "Dubul' ibhunu" ("Shoot the Boer").{{cite news |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/the-zuma-era/complaint-laid-against-zuma-1.1242416 |title=Complaint laid against Zuma – The Zuma Era |work=Independent Online |location=South Africa |date=24 February 2012 |access-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429115636/http://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/the-zuma-era/complaint-laid-against-zuma-1.1242416 |archive-date=29 April 2012 }}{{cite news |author=SABC |url=http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/383404804a48659d9b959f8f72c0ef2b/Rightwing-movement-to-lay-hate-speech-charge-against-Zuma-20120224 |title=SABC News.com – Rightwing movement to lay hate speech charge against Zuma:Friday 24 February 2012 |publisher=Sabc.co.za |date=24 February 2012 |access-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723183036/http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/383404804a48659d9b959f8f72c0ef2b/Rightwing-movement-to-lay-hate-speech-charge-against-Zuma-20120224 |archive-date=23 July 2013 }}

In 2012, Zuma was featured in a satirical painting by Cape Town-based artist Brett Murray, who depicted him in his painting The Spear, with his genitals exposed. The ANC responded by threatening court action against the gallery showing the painting, and further demanding that the image should be removed from online sources.{{cite news|last=Stephen|first=Grootes|title=Zuma portrait saga goes to court|url=http://www.ewn.co.za/en/2012/05/19/Zuma%20portrait%20saga%20goes%20to%20court.aspx|access-date=19 May 2012|newspaper=Eyewitness News|date=19 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602173211/http://ewn.co.za/en/2012/05/19/Zuma%20portrait%20saga%20goes%20to%20court.aspx|archive-date=2 June 2013}}{{cite web|title=Just Hanging Out|date=18 May 2012|url=http://6000.co.za/just-hanging-out/|publisher=6000 Miles from Civilization|access-date=19 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020034534/http://6000.co.za/just-hanging-out/|archive-date=20 October 2012}} On 22 May 2012, the painting was vandalised while it was hanging in an art gallery in Johannesburg. Zuma's face and genitals were painted over.{{cite news|title=Jacob Zuma painting vandalised in South Africa gallery|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18159204|access-date=22 May 2012|work=BBC News|date=22 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522102315/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18159204|archive-date=22 May 2012}}

Clive Khulubuse Zuma, Jacob Zuma's nephew, was named in the Panama Papers{{cite web|title = The Power Players: Clive Khulubuse Zuma|url = https://projects.icij.org/panama-papers/power-players/index.html#18|publisher = ICIJ|access-date = 3 April 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160404015649/https://projects.icij.org/panama-papers/power-players/index.html#18|archive-date = 4 April 2016 }} as a result of his links to oilfields in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Shortly after Jacob Zuma met with DRC president Joseph Kabila, Khulubuse Zuma's company Caprikat Limited secured a 100-billion-rand oil deal in the DRC.{{cite web |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/the-panama-papers-and-the-zuma-link-20160404 |title=The Panama papers and the Zuma link |publisher=News24 |date=4 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414075555/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/the-panama-papers-and-the-zuma-link-20160404 |archive-date=14 April 2016 }}{{Cite news|last=du Preez|first=Max|date=2 May 2017|title=Could it be Gerrie Nel vs Jacob Zuma?|work=News24|url=http://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/gerrie-nel-could-be-our-last-hope-to-get-rid-of-zuma-20170502|url-status=live|access-date=2 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502093837/http://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/gerrie-nel-could-be-our-last-hope-to-get-rid-of-zuma-20170502|archive-date=2 May 2017}}

{{Main|Jacob Zuma Foundation}}

Zuma started the foundation to send children to school and build houses for people living in poverty. The former chairperson of the foundation is Dudu Myeni,{{cite web |title=Dudu Myeni resigns from Jacob Zuma Foundation and other boards |last=Ndaba |first=Baldwin |work=Independent Online |date=8 February 2021 |access-date=15 February 2021 |url= https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/dudu-myeni-resigns-from-jacob-zuma-foundation-and-other-boards-30e0172d-da64-4e5f-95cd-03613544ea4d }} before she resigned from her memberships on the boards of directors of these and other bodies because she was declared a delinquent director for life in May 2020 by the Pretoria High Court.{{cite web |title=Dudu Myeni 'failed abysmally', declared delinquent director for life |author= |work=TimesLIVE |date=27 May 2020 |access-date=15 February 2021 |url= https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-05-27-dudu-myeni-declared-delinquent-director-outa/ }}

File:Ceremonial_Welcome_(4403964442).jpg and Prince Philip in London, 2010]]

File:Jacob_Zuma_with_his_wife_calling_on_the_President,_Smt._Pratibha_Devisingh_Patil,_on_the_occasion_of_the_Summit_of_BRICS_countries,_at_Rashtrapati_Bhavan,_in_New_Delhi_on_March_28,_2012.jpg with Indian President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi, 2012]]

Zuma is a polygamist, in line with traditional Zulu culture, and has been married six times. In 2012 the Daily Telegraph estimated he had 20 children,{{cite news |last=Laing |first=Aislinn |date=20 June 2012 |title=Jacob Zuma faces losing £1.2 million support for four wives |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/9344916/Jacob-Zuma-faces-losing-1.2-million-support-for-four-wives.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621171139/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/9344916/Jacob-Zuma-faces-losing-1.2-million-support-for-four-wives.html |archive-date=21 June 2012 |access-date=20 June 2012 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}} and in 2014 the Guardian reported he has 21,{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=David |date=29 July 2014 |title=Jacob Zuma accused of nepotism after giving daughter ministry position |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/jacob-zuma-nepotism-giving-daughter-ministry-position |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717084252/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/jacob-zuma-nepotism-giving-daughter-ministry-position |archive-date=17 July 2016 |access-date=29 April 2017 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} some of whom were born out of wedlock. In an interview, he said:

There are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children that they hide so as to pretend they're monogamous. I prefer to be open. I love my wives and I'm proud of my children.{{cite news |last=Molele |first=Charles |date=15 December 2007 |title=So who will the Zuma First Lady be? |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article88543.ece/SO-WHO-WILL-THE-ZUMA-FIRST-LADY-BE- |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516151639/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article88543.ece/SO-WHO-WILL-THE-ZUMA-FIRST-LADY-BE- |archive-date=16 May 2011 |work=The Times}}

; Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, 1973–present: Zuma met Khumalo (born 2 March 1940) in 1959 and they married shortly after his release from prison in 1973.{{cite news |last=Pillay |first=Verashni |date=4 January 2010 |title=All the president's women |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2010-01-04-all-the-presidents-women |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128081608/http://mg.co.za/article/2010-01-04-all-the-presidents-women/ |archive-date=28 November 2013 |access-date=27 November 2013 |newspaper=Mail & Guardian}} They have no children together.

; Kate Mantsho, 1976–2000: Zuma married Mantsho (born 2 September 1956 in Mozambique) in 1976 while he was in exile in Mozambique. She committed suicide on 8 December 2000 and is buried in Heroes' Acre at Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg.{{cite web |date=17 December 2000 |title=Tributes as Kate Zuma buried |url=http://www.news24.com/xArchive/Archive/Tributes-as-Kate-Zuma-buried-20001217 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219223111/http://www.news24.com/xArchive/Archive/Tributes-as-Kate-Zuma-buried-20001217 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |access-date=17 December 2004 |website=News24}} Mantsho is the mother of twins Duduzile and Duduzane (born 1984), and three other children born in 1980, 1989, and 1993, the last of whom, Nhlakanipho Vusi, died on 1 July 2018.{{cite web |last=Pillay |first=Kailene |date=2 July 2018 |title=Jacob Zuma's son Vusi dies |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/jacob-zumas-son-vusi-dies-15784793 |work=Independent Online}}{{Cite web |date=23 November 2015 |title=Who are Zuma's 23 children? |url=https://www.news24.com/parent/Family/Parenting/so-who-are-zumas-22-children-20151122 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}

; Nkosazana Dlamini, 1982–1998: Zuma met Dlamini (born 27 January 1949), an ANC politician and cabinet minister, while he was in exile in Swaziland.{{Cite web |last=Thamm |first=Marianne |date=26 September 2020 |title=The unMerry Wives of Nkandla – Zuma sheds spouses as his star wanes |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-09-26-the-unmerry-wives-of-nkandla-zuma-sheds-spouses-as-his-star-wanes/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} They were married in 1982 and divorced in June 1998.{{Cite news |date=16 July 2012 |title=Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: SA's iron lady |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Nkosazana-Dlamini-Zuma-SAs-iron-lady-20120716 |access-date=21 April 2017 |work=News24}} Dlamini is the mother of Gugulethu (born 1985), Nokuthula (also known as Thuli, born 1987), and Thuthukile (born 1989), as well as another child born in 1982.

; Nompumelelo Ntuli, 2008–present: Zuma married Ntuli (born 1975) on 5 January 2008.{{Cite web |date=5 January 2008 |title=Zuma gets married in KwaZulu-Natal |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-05-zuma-gets-married-in-kwazulunatal/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} From 2014, she was investigated by police on the allegation that she had attempted to kill Zuma with poisoned tea.{{Cite web |last=Underhill |first=Glynnis |date=9 December 2015 |title=Ntuli-Zuma's poison case remains shrouded in mystery |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2015-12-09-ntuli-zumas-poison-case-remains-shrouded-in-mystery/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} She denied the allegation and the NPA declined to prosecute her due to insufficient evidence. As of 2022, she and Zuma are reportedly estranged.{{Cite web |last=Mbhele |first=Sandisiwe |date=14 April 2021 |title=What's next for Zuma's wives? |url=https://www.citizen.co.za/entertainment/2473447/whats-next-for-zumas-wives/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=The Citizen |language=en}} They have three children, born in 2002, 2006, and 2010.{{cite news |last=Pillay |first=Verashni |date=4 February 2010 |title=All the president's children |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-02-04-all-the-presidents-children/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206021529/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-04-all-the-presidents-children |archive-date=6 February 2010 |work=Mail & Guardian}}

; Thobeka Stacie Mabhija, 2010–present: Zuma married Mabhija, also known as Thobeka Madiba (born 1973), on 4 January 2010.{{Cite web |last=Khumalo |first=Sipho |date=9 January 2009 |title=Zuma's bride-to-be 'a glamorous beauty' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zumas-bride-to-be-a-glamorous-beauty-430759 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=IOL |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=4 January 2010 |title=Jacob Zuma weds his third first lady – but not without a hitch |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/04/jacob-zuma-weds-tobeka-madiba |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} She and Zuma are reportedly estranged, and in 2020 she sued Zuma for spousal maintenance{{Cite web |last=Mavuso |first=Sihle |date=18 August 2020 |title=Tobeka Madiba in court for maintenance dispute with Jacob Zuma |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/tobeka-madiba-in-court-for-maintenance-dispute-with-jacob-zuma-63cab55c-70a9-4632-b51a-ba93481237bb |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=IOL |language=en}} and then filed for divorce.{{Cite web |date=18 October 2020 |title=Ex-president's wife wants out, accuses him of 'hiding his wealth' |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2020-10-18-ex-presidents-wife-wants-out-accuses-him-of-hiding-his-wealth/ |access-date=18 December 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}} They have three children.

; Gloria Bongekile Ngema, 2012–present: In April 2012, Zuma married Ngema (born 1965), with whom he already had a son, Sinqumo (born c. 2009).{{Cite web |last=Memela |first=Mhlaba |date=20 April 2012 |title=President Zuma says 'I Do' to MaNgema |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012-04-20-president-zuma-says-i-do-to-mangema-/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Sowetan |language=en-ZA}}{{cite web |date=20 April 2012 |title=South Africa's polygamous president marries fourth wife |url=http://www.bnonews.com/inbox/?id=577 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422201811/http://www.bnonews.com/inbox/?id=577 |archive-date=22 April 2012 |access-date=20 April 2012 |publisher=BNO News}} In 2017, emails leaked as part of the so-called #GuptaLeaks suggested that the Gupta family had partially funded the purchase of Ngema's R5.4-million house in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria.

Zuma has also been engaged to other women, including, from 2002, Princess Sebentile Dlamini, a niece of Swazi King Mswati III. Zuma paid the traditional lobola in cattle,{{Cite web |date=9 November 2002 |title=Zuma to take Mswati's niece as his 4th wife |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-to-take-mswatis-niece-as-his-4th-wife-96733 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=IOL |language=en}} but, as of 2022, they have not married, although the Citizen reported in 2017 that they were still engaged.{{Cite web |date=29 October 2017 |title=Details: Zumas fork out 120 head of cattle, cash for Swazi princess in lobola settlement |url=https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/1707674/details-zumas-fork-out-120-head-of-cattle-cash-for-swazi-princess-in-lobola-settlement/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=The Citizen |language=en}} He was also engaged to Nonkanyiso Conco (born 16 October 1993),{{Cite web |last=Zeeman |first=Kyle |date=26 October 2021 |title=Jacob Zuma's ex-fiancé Laconco reminisces about her lavish birthday |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/tshisa-live/tshisa-live/2021-10-26-snaps--jacob-zumas-ex-fianc-laconco-reminisces-about-her-lavish-birthday/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Wicks |first=Jeff |date=22 April 2018 |title=Meet the 24-year-old soon-to-be Mrs Zuma |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2018-04-21-meet-the-24-year-old-soon-to-be-mrs-zuma-nonkanyiso-conco/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}} a cast member on Real Housewives of Durban, but has broken off the engagement and are reportedly estranged. They have a child together: Sakh'muzi (born 12 April 2018).{{Cite web |last=Ngcobo |first=Gabisile |date=3 February 2020 |title=Jacob Zuma's partner on raising her son in a polygamous relationship: 'I have made peace that I'll attend school activities alone' |url=https://www.news24.com/you/parenting/jacob-zumas-partner-on-raising-her-son-in-a-polygamous-relationship-i-have-made-peace-that-ill-attend-school-activities-alone-20200203 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=You |publisher=News24 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Wicks |first=Jeff |date=20 April 2018 |title=Future 'Mrs Zuma' gave birth to baby boy on JZ's birthday |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-04-20-future-mrs-zuma-gave-birth-to-baby-boy-on-jzs-birthday/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}

Zuma's firstborn child was born 1977 to Minah Shongwe, sister of Judge Jeremiah Shongwe, who asked to be recused from Zuma's rape trial because of the relationship.{{cite news |last=Gordin |first=Jeremy |date=15 February 2006 |title=Zuma has a love child with judge's sister |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-has-a-love-child-with-judges-sister-266537 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405172333/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zuma-has-a-love-child-with-judges-sister-266537 |archive-date=5 April 2016 |work=Independent Online}} He also has two children, born in 1998 and 2002, with Pietermaritzburg businesswoman Nonkululeko Mhlongo,{{cite news |date=11 February 2010 |title=Now Zuma's KZN love kids revealed |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/now-zumas-kzn-love-kids-revealed-473195 |work=Independent Online}} whom he met in 1990 and to whom he was rumoured to be engaged.{{Cite web |date=1 May 2011 |title=Meet Mrs Zuma No 5 |url=https://www.news24.com/News24/Meet-Mrs-Zuma-nr-5-20110501 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} In 2024, Nomcebo became engaged to King Mswati III of Eswatini. In March 2017, a covert recording was leaked in which Mhlongo allegedly outlined a plan for defrauding the KwaZulu-Natal government, apparently with Zuma's knowledge.{{cite web |date=2 March 2017 |title='Shocking Nkandla plot recording' raises intrigue |url=http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1444449/shocking-nkandla-plot-recording-raises-intrigue/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330001435/http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1444449/shocking-nkandla-plot-recording-raises-intrigue/ |archive-date=30 March 2017 |access-date=29 March 2017 |website=The Citizen}} His other children include a daughter born 8 October 2009 to Sonono Khoza, the daughter of soccer administrator Irvin Khoza,{{cite news |last=Govender |first=Prega |date=31 January 2010 |title=Zuma fathers baby with Irvin Khoza's daughter |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article284367.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202235045/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article284367.ece |archive-date=2 February 2010 |access-date=31 January 2010 |work=The Sunday Times}} and, according to media reports, three children to a woman from Johannesburg and one to a woman from Richard's Bay.

In January 2010, the Sunday Times reported that Khoza had given birth to Zuma's daughter in 2009,{{cite news |date=3 February 2010 |title=Zuma and Khoza 'are married' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-and-khoza-are-married-472353 |work=Independent Online}} and Zuma ultimately confirmed that he had paid inhlawulo, acknowledging paternity, and appealed for privacy.{{cite news |date=3 February 2010 |title=Zuma confirms love-child |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-confirms-love-child-472439 |work=Independent Online}} Opposition parties criticised Zuma's actions. Both the African Christian Democratic Party and the DA said that it undermined the government's HIV/AIDS prevention programme, which promoted safe sex and marital fidelity.{{cite news |last=Govender |first=Peroshni |date=2 February 2010 |title=Zuma flouts safe sex campaign, says COPE |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-flouts-safe-sex-campaign-says-cope-472178 |work=Independent Online}} DA leader Zille also argued that it was not a purely private matter, since elected public officials had to embody the principles and values for which they stood.{{cite news |date=2 February 2010 |title=Zuma should apologise, says Zille |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-02-02-zuma-should-apologise-says-zille/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205065954/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-02-zuma-should-apologise-says-zille |archive-date=5 February 2010 |website=Mail & Guardian}} The Congress of the People said that Zuma could no longer use African cultural practices to justify his "promiscuity", and Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said that Zuma was asking people "to do as I say and not as I do".{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Gaye |date=2 February 2010 |title=Zuma sex report 'a PR nightmare' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zuma-sex-report-a-pr-nightmare-472272 |work=Independent Online}}

Zuma initially denied that the incident was relevant to the government's HIV/AIDS programme and appealed for privacy. However, amid public controversy, on 6 February Zuma said he "deeply regretted the pain that he caused to his family, the ANC, the alliance and South Africans in general".{{cite news |date=6 February 2010 |title=Zuma 'deeply regrets' love-child pain |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-02-06-zuma-deeply-regrets-lovechild-pain/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209012946/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-06-zuma-deeply-regrets-lovechild-pain |archive-date=9 February 2010 |website=Mail & Guardian}} Similarly, the ANC initially defended Zuma, saying that it saw no links between its HIV/AIDS policies and Zuma's personal life,{{cite news |date=1 February 2010 |title=ANC defends Jacob Zuma over 'love-child' claims |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8492553.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202052800/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8492553.stm |archive-date=2 February 2010 |work=BBC News}} but on 5 February acknowledged the widespread disapproval and said that it had listened to the public and learnt "many valuable lessons".{{cite web |last1=Ngalwa |first1=Sibusiso |last2=du Plessis |first2=Carien |title=JZ broke sex pact |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/jz-broke-sex-pact-472683 |work=Independent Online |language=en |publication-place=South Africa |publication-date=6 February 2010}} ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema said, "Zuma is our father so we are not qualified to talk about that", but committed the Youth League to continual emphasis on its HIV/AIDS programme and "one boyfriend, one girlfriend" stance in a nationwide awareness campaign.{{cite news |date=1 February 2010 |title=Love-child talk 'disrespectful' |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/love-child-talk-disrespectful-20100201 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204074802/http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Politics/1057/d0ed84d2b295404ba0b2d8df152587a3/01-02-2010-04-11/Disrespectful_to_discuss_love-child_Malema |archive-date=4 February 2010 |work=News24}} ANC Women's League deputy president Nosipho Ntwanambi said:

With many African people for instance, and generally speaking, it is not right to have an extramarital affair if you have committed to yourself to a marriage. But under the Customary Marriages Act, if the first wife agrees, and if all these issues are discussed with her, we can't do anything.{{cite news |date=1 February 2010 |title=SA has 'right to know about love-child' |url=https://www.news24.com/News24/SA-has-right-to-know-about-love-child-20100201 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203071213/http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Politics/1057/bfdf8618c1414d9b8b6c658dea6fcf83/01-02-2010-08-09/SA_has_right_to_know_about_love-child |archive-date=3 February 2010 |work=News24}}

In September 2024, Zuma's 21-year-old daughter, Nomcebo, from his wife, Nonkululeko Mhlongo, became engaged to King Mswati III, the ruler of Eswatini. The engagement was announced following the conclusion of the annual reed dance ceremony, known as the Umhlanga ceremony, at the Ludzidzini Royal Palace. During the event, Nomcebo Zuma was presented as the "liphovela," a Siswati term to denote a royal fiancée.

Nomcebo’s mother and Zuma were present during the ceremony.

File:Jacob Zuma.jpg, Nigeria]]

• Nelson Mandela Award for Outstanding Leadership from the Medical University of South Africa, awarded in Washington, D.C. (1998){{Cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nelson-mandela-award-honors-charles-a-heimbold-jr-for-commitment-to-african-hivaids-pandemic-73442087.html|title=Nelson Mandela Award Honors Charles A. Heimbold Jr. for Commitment to African HIV/AIDS Pandemic|author=MEDUNSA Trust|website=www.prnewswire.com|access-date=11 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111112329/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nelson-mandela-award-honors-charles-a-heimbold-jr-for-commitment-to-african-hivaids-pandemic-73442087.html|archive-date=11 November 2016}}
• During a visit to the United Kingdom in 2010, Jacob Zuma was made an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.{{cite news|title=Royal banquet for South African President Jacob Zuma|date=3 March 2010|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8545456.stm|publisher=BBC|access-date=23 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223191544/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8545456.stm|archive-date=23 December 2015}}
• Imo Merit Award, the highest award in the Imo State of Nigeria, is conferred on those who have made a difference in the development of their communities. (15 October 2017){{Cite news|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-10-16-nigeria-honours-zuma-with-giant-statue/|title=Nigeria honours Zuma with giant statue|access-date=16 October 2017|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016070614/https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-10-16-nigeria-honours-zuma-with-giant-statue/|archive-date=16 October 2017}}

• Nigeria's Imo State unveiled a statue of Jacob Zuma on 15 October 2017.

• University of Zululand (2001), Honorary Doctor of Administration{{cite web|url=http://whoswho.co.za/jacob-zuma-927|title=Jacob Zuma|publisher=whoswho|access-date=23 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103055557/http://whoswho.co.za/jacob-zuma-927|archive-date=3 January 2016}}
• University of Fort Hare (2001), Honorary Doctor of Literature/Letters
• Medical University of Southern Africa (2001), Honorary Doctor of Philosophy
• University of Zambia (UNZA) Great East Campus (2009), Honorary Doctor of Law{{cite web|url=https://www.lusakatimes.com/2009/12/09/unza-confers-honorary-doctor-of-law-degree-on-zuma/|title=UNZA confers honorary Doctor of Law degree on Zuma|website=Lusaka Times|date=9 December 2009|access-date=18 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201045530/https://www.lusakatimes.com/2009/12/09/unza-confers-honorary-doctor-of-law-degree-on-zuma/|archive-date=1 December 2017}}
• Peking University (2012), Honorary Professor of International Relations

• Zuma was invested with a chieftaincy title – that of the Ochiaga of Imo – during his trip to the kingdom of Eze Samuel Ohiri of Imo on 15 October 2017.{{cite news|url= https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/zuma-nigeria-road-statue-chieftaincy/|first=Alexis|last=Haden|title=Zuma got a chieftaincy title, road and statue in Nigeria|work=The South African|date=15 October 2017|access-date=27 April 2020}}

• The Passion of Jacob Zuma, a 2009 French documentary by Jean-Baptiste Dusséaux and Matthieu Niango{{cite web|url=http://www.riff.it/scheda-film/?id=9415|title=Ceteris Paribus – Director biographical note|website=RIFF – Rome independent film festival|access-date=5 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305185333/http://www.riff.it/scheda-film/?id=9415|archive-date=5 March 2017}}
• Motherland, a 2010 documentary directed by Owen 'Alik Shahadah
• How to Steal a Country, a 2019 South African documentary directed by Rehad Desai

{{Portal|South Africa|Biography|Politics}}

• Presidency of Jacob Zuma
• Schabir Shaik trial
• The Spear
• Gupta family

{{clear}}

{{Reflist}}

• Basson, Adriaan (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=68bnDwAAQBAJ Zuma Exposed]. Jonathan Ball Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-86842-540-2}}.
• Basson, Adriaan; du Toit, Pieter (2017). [https://books.google.com/books?id=zcfnDwAAQBAJ Enemy of the People: How Jacob Zuma Stole South Africa and How the People Fought Back]. Jonathan Ball Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-86842-819-9}}.
• Calland, Richard (2013). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BwxbDwAAQBAJ The Zuma Years: South Africa's Changing Face of Power]. Penguin Random House South Africa. {{ISBN|978-1-77022-276-2}}.
• {{cite magazine |last=Foster |first=Douglas |date=June 2009 |title=Jacob's Ladder |magazine=The Atlantic |volume=303 |issue=5 |pages=72–80 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/jacobs-ladder/307442/|access-date=8 July 2013}}
• Gordin, Jeremy (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wdMwAQAAIAAJ Zuma: A Biography]. Jonathan Ball. {{ISBN|978-1-86842-263-0}}.
• Pauw, Jacques (2017). The President's Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and Out of Prison. Tafelberg. {{ISBN|978-0-624-08303-0}}.
• {{cite book |first=Alec |last=Russell |year=2009 |title=After Mandela: the Battle for the Soul of South Africa |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-192601-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aftermandelabatt0000russ }}
• Southall, Roger (2009). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27756284 "Understanding the 'Zuma Tsunami'"]. Review of African Political Economy. 36 (121): 317–333. {{JSTOR|27756284}}. {{ISSN|0305-6244}}.

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050714082235/http://www.anc.org.za/people/zumaj.html Profile] at the African National Congress
• [http://www.leader.co.za/article.aspx?s=6&f=1&a=1244 Zuma: Road to the presidency]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110901215328/http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/jacob-zuma-927 Jacob Zuma] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20110901215042/http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/ Who's Who Southern Africa]
• {{C-SPAN|35871}}
• {{IMDb name|2663369}}
• {{NYTtopic|people/z/jacob_g_zuma}}
• {{People's Assembly (South Africa) | jacob-gedleyihlekisa-zuma |Jacob Zuma }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100712040908/http://www.iol.co.za/html/static/shaik.php Squires's full judgment in Shaik case]
• [https://www.scribd.com/document/361488605/Zuma-Spy-Tapes-Judgment#from_embed Supreme Court judgment upholding 2009 ruling]
• [https://www.gupta-leaks.com/ Gupta Leaks portal]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z35Uvwp2fto Crowds heckle Zuma at Mandela's memorial] (2013), eNCA
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoz0dlM0gZU Interview with Zuma on the day of his resignation] (2014), SABC
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqt-kulXG7Y Zuma sings Umshini wami outside a courthouse] (2018)

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Category:South African anti-apartheid activists

Category:Deputy presidents of South Africa

Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:Inmates of Robben Island

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the South African Communist Party

Category:People acquitted of rape

Category:People from Nkandla Local Municipality

Category:Presidents of South Africa

Category:Presidents of the African National Congress

Category:South African activists

Category:South African prisoners and detainees

Category:South African revolutionaries

Category:Prisoners and detainees of South Africa

Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned

Category:Zulu people

Category:South African politicians convicted of crimes

Category:UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel

Category:Left-wing populists

Category:UMkhonto we Sizwe politicians

Category:Anti-white racism in Africa

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019