One time South Africa president Thabo Mbeki has tagged the tenure of his ANC successor Jacob Zuma as being riddled with malfeasance and dishonesty that he could not publicly associate with.

Mbeki was speaking at the Rand Easter Show in Nasrec, south of Joburg, where he campaigned for the ANC for the first time after he left office more than 10 years ago.

In a major boost for the ANC days before the May 8 elections, Mbeki said some of the reasons he threw his weight behind the party include the organisation’s admission in the manifesto of past wrongs, including veering off course as well as corruption and lawlessness.

“It was very important that the ANC should say that, to say to the people of South Africa, we recognise that there are these things and the language is very strong when you say that you have veered off course,” Mbeki said.

He was defeated by Zuma for the ANC presidency in the watershed Polokwane conference in 2007 before he was removed as state president in October 2008, nine months before his term ended.