Electoral Commission of South Africa v Umkhonto Wesizwe Political Party and Others, CCT 97/24

The Constitutional Court unanimously held that Jacob Zuma was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months' imprisonment for the purposes of section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution, and is therefore not eligible to be a member of, and not qualified to stand for election to, the National Assembly until five years have elapsed since the completion of his sentence. It rejected the arguments that a sentence imposed by the Constitutional Court itself falls outside the provision and that presidential remission retroactively reduced the sentence, holding that the section turns on the length of the sentence imposed rather than the length served, and it overturned the Electoral Court's decision of 26 April 2024.