South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma survived a car accident after a vehicle transporting him was hit by a drunk driver, police said.
The incident happened hours after electoral officials barred Zuma from standing in the May 29 general elections.
A 51-year-old man was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal province “for drunken driving, as well as on a charge of reckless and negligent driving”, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said on Friday.
The driver’s car “collided” with Zuma’s “official armoured state vehicle”, on Thursday, SAPS posted on X. The suspect is to appear in court on Tuesday.
Zuma, 81, and his bodyguards escaped uninjured.
The veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been campaigning for the recently formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) (Spear of the Nation) party in an attempt to relaunch his career after he was previously jailed for contempt of court in 2021.
Zuma’s tenure ended in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations when incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa replaced him, but he still wields political clout.
