Jacob Zuma Escapes Death After ‘Drunk Driver’ Collided With Armored Vehicle

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma survived a road crash Thursday night, local media reported Friday.

Zuma and his bodyguards were traveling from Nkandla to Eshowe, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, to campaign for the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party when the crash happened.

According to the country’s police, a drunk driver collided with Zuma’s “official armoured state vehicle” on Thursday evening.

But BBC reports that a leading member of Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party alleged that the ex-president was targeted.

He had been suspended by the governing African National Congress (ANC) and is campaigning for the MK ahead of May’s general election.

Zuma was in the car, along with his official protection team, when it was hit on a road in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal at about 18:40 local time (16:40 GMT) on Thursday.

“No-one was injured, including members of the Presidential Protection Services. The former president was evacuated and taken to his residence,” a brief police statement said.

A 51-year-old man has been arrested for “drunken driving as well as… reckless and negligent driving”.

The MK’s party’s head of elections, Musa Mkhize, told public broadcaster SABC that he thought the crash was deliberate rather than an accident.

“Unfortunately, we have been waiting for it to happen. The president was warned that before the day of the elections, he would be lying in the hospital. Thanks to the Presidential Protection Unit members who managed to keep the president safe,” he is quoted by News24 as saying.