The ultra-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other small opposition parties had taken the issue to the Constitutional Court. Dozens of EFF supporters, clad in their trademark red shirts and berets, danced and sang outside the court after the judgement was delivered.
Daniel Silke, director of Political Futures Consultancy, said the ball was now in the ANC’s court.
“The pressure will come from within the ANC to engineer a dignified exit for President Zuma … this judgement hastens or adds substantial pressure for an early retirement by Zuma,” he told Reuters.
“It is not about him anymore, it about the party trying to chart a new course without the divisiveness that the Zuma issue brings,” he said.
Zuma, an earthy politician with scant formal education who spent a decade in prison with Nelson Mandela for fighting apartheid, has faced numerous corruption allegations throughout his presidency. He has denied wrongdoing.
He has also been politically hobbled by a dismal economy that was hit by damaging ratings downgrades earlier this year after he sacked a respected finance minister.
“The ANC will study the judgement and discuss its full implications when the National Executive Committee meets on the 10th January 2018,” the party said in a statement.
The judgement stemmed from a scandal that had faded from view in recent months as new allegations of corruption have swirled around Zuma.
In March 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma pay back some of the roughly $15 million in state money spent upgrading his private home on a sprawling compound in rural KwaZulu-Natal province.
The upgrades included a cattle pen, chicken run and a swimming pool that the police ministry famously described as a “fire pool” required for fire-fighting purposes.
The unanimous and stinging ruling by the 11-judge court said Zuma had failed to “uphold, defend and respect” the constitution by ignoring the findings of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, whose office is an anti-graft watchdog with a strong constitutional mandate.
Zuma has since repaid 7.8 million rand ($631,000) – the sum determined by the Treasury as the “reasonable cost” he should bear – while also surviving a no-confidence motion in parliament where members of own his party voted to oust him.
But opposition parties argued that parliament has not done enough, given the gravity of the court’s findings.
An impeachment motion was brought to a vote in parliament shortly after the judgement but the court ruled that this was not enough.
“The assembly simply debated and voted on the motion … Therefore, we conclude that the assembly did not hold the president to account,” Jafta said.
