South Africa's Zuma to honour ANC summons - MK party

Former South African President Jacob Zuma will honour summons by the ruling African National Congress (ANC), his new party says.

The ANC on Thursday announced it had served Mr Zuma with a notice to appear before its disciplinary panel after he declared support for a rival party in this year's general election.

Mr Zuma is now the leader and face of the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and he has been campaigning for the party ahead of May elections. He was suspended from ANC in January.

MK party spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said that Mr Zuma was not a coward and would attend his disciplinary hearing, EyeWitness news website reported.

The hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.

He is reportedly facing two counts, for publicly endorsing the MK party and for registering as a candidate for the elections under the new party.

Mr Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, still enjoys considerable political clout in South Africa and has recently garnered major media attention.