Former president Jacob Zuma has finally won an argument in court, for possibly the first time since his rape acquittal in 2006. He can stand as a candidate in the May 29 elections after the electoral court set aside a decision by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to bar him.

The IEC ruled that he was ineligible as a convicted criminal, having been sentenced to more than 12 months in jail for failing to appear before the Zondo state capture commission. However, the electoral court seems to have bought Zuma’s argument that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s remission of that sentence means he remains eligible to become an MP...