Arguing before the court on Monday, the MK party legal counsel Dali Mpofu SC pointed out similarities between Zuma's case and that of the late anti-apartheid stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The Electoral Court on Tuesday cleared Jacob Zuma, the face of the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party's campaign, to stand for public office in the 29 May elections.

While the full judgment has not yet been released, arguing before the court on Monday, the party's legal counsel, Dali Mpofu SC, likened Zuma's case to that of the late anti-apartheid stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Madikizela-Mandela was an ANC candidate for the National Assembly in the 2009 elections, but she, like Zuma, had been sentenced by a court to more than 12 months' imprisonment without the option of a fine.

While the former president served three months of his 15-month contempt of court sentence, Madikizela-Mandela was, on appeal in 2004, given a 3½-year prison sentence, wholly suspended, after being found guilty of fraud.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) launched an application in the Electoral Court to have her removed from the ANC's list of candidates because it believed that the sentence, which exceeded 12 months without the option of a fine, meant she should be disqualified under section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution.

On Tuesday, former IEC commissioner Terry Tselane told Daily Maverick, "This is not the first time that a case like...