The incumbent president Paul Kruger was involved in a constitutional battle with Chief Justice John Gilbert Kotzé. After trying to unsuccessfully remove Kotzé though legislation, he waited until after the election to dismiss him.[4]
Kruger ran for re-election alongside two challengers.
A distinguished member of the Volksraad and commandant of the Lydenburg Commando, Schalk Willem Burger was popular with the British and the capitalists of Johannesburg.[5] This was due to the South African Industrial Report of 1897, produced by a committee under his leadership, which called for the lowering of tariffs, among other suggestions.[6] Despite the conclusions of the report, Burger was an ardent patriot; however, the conclusions of the report and support from anti-ZAR newspapers led some voters to distrust him.[5]
Vice-President and Commandant-General Piet Joubert had previously run against Kruger three times without success.[7][2] He had narrowly lost against him in 1893, losing by around 900 votes, with allegations of electoral manipulation in favour of Kruger and reports of voter turnout being greater than 100%.[8]
Claims were made that former Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes colluded against Kruger during the election campaign.[9]
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