President Cyril Ramaphosa's pre-election headaches intensified with the news that Jacob Zuma the convicted former President is promising to vote for a new political party named after the ANC's military wing in exile uMkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation)...

Mbatha was also a special advisor to former President Kgalema Motlanthe during his short stint as interim president between the presidencies of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma...

He fell out with former President Jacob Zuma because he refused to give government tenders to Zuma's associates including the wealthy and influential Gupta family who were close business partners of Zuma's when he was president...

The other two candidates chief executive Ravi Nair and former Transnet Group chief operating officer Mlamuli Buthelezi have been employed mainly in the public sector during the state capture period under President Jacob Zuma...

But the financial legacy of the pandemic damage done by state capture under former President Jacob Zuma and rising inflation from the fall-out of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have left it with limited options (AC Vol 64 No 14 ANC leaders wade into new ethics row & Vol 64 No 13 Kyiv and Moscow give peace mission short shrift)...

But the timeline has been stretched out as officials grapple with worsening power shortages mostly caused by corruption and mismanagement of Eskom during Jacob Zuma's presidency...

But getting rid of Mkhwebane with her links to ex-President Jacob Zuma is more of a political win for Ramaphosa showing his strength in parliament and the party's national executive committee...

'If another group of people attempted to capture the state ' as happened during the nine-year rule of President Jacob Zuma 'they would succeed because Parliament would again fail to stop them ' Zondo said at a conference on 22 June to assess the impact of the commission's report (AC Vol 63 No 14 Zondo's game changer)...

Ex-President Jacob Zuma had strong relations with King Mswati and married into the royal family...