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MK Party accuses IEC, ConCourt of ignoring election rigging evidence

MK Party accuses IEC, ConCourt of ignoring election rigging evidence

by | Jun 16, 2024 | News

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The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party says the Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Constitutional Court have ignored evidence provided to support the party’s claims of last month’s elections being rigged.

Addressing the media in Sandton, Johannesburg, former President Jacob Zuma says, through a statement read by the party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela, that they will be going back to the Electoral Court to challenge the validity of the election results.

The MK party accuses the ConCourt of relying on technicalities.

“We presented concrete evidence to the IEC, showing widespread irregularities in the voting process and the voting system, it has all fallen on deaf ears. We’ve also tried all peaceful means to address our grievances, but all in vain. We’ve even approached the highest court in the land, but it rejected our pleas without even giving us a hearing, and they’re relying on technicalities while the democracy itself is being destroyed.”

‘Enemy of progress’

The MK Party has also accused the governing African National Congress (ANC) of being the enemy of progress and has restated its claim that last month’s elections, which produced no outright majority, were rigged.

The ANC is in the process of forming a government of national unity with the Democratic Alliance, the Inkatha Freedom Party and others.

The party also used the briefing to denounce what it calls the “ANC of Ramaphosa”.

Progressive Caucus

uMkhonto we Sizwe party came in a surprisingly strong third in the May 29 election which saw the ANC lose its majority. MK won 14.6% of the vote which translated into 58 seats in the 400-seat National Assembly.

However, MK lawmakers boycotted the first sitting of the National Assembly on Friday after filing a complaint at the country’s top court alleging vote-rigging, which the court dismissed as without merit.

Spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela tells reporters that the MK party will join the alliance called the “Progressive Caucus”, which includes the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the United Democratic Movement.

This alliance commands close to 30% of the seats in the National Assembly, Ndhlela says.

“This united effort is necessary because the 2024 election has also resulted in the consolidation of right-wing and reactionary forces who are opposed to economic freedom, radical economic transformation, racial equality and land repossession,” he says.

Ndhlela says that MK had decided to take up its seats in the National Assembly after receiving legal advice and that it would continue to raise its allegations of rigged elections in parliament and in courts. -Additional reporting by Reuters

MK Party Media Briefing:

Zuma’s remission of sentence key to electoral challenge: Prof Kotzé

Zuma’s remission of sentence key to electoral challenge: Prof Kotzé

by | Apr 6, 2024 | News

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Political analyst Professor Dirk Kotzé says the pardon granted to former President Jacob Zuma in August last year could be the argument used by his lawyers to challenge the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision to bar him from contesting next month’s elections.

The Electoral Court will on Monday hear Zuma’s appeal after the IEC upheld an objection against the former President’s candidature.

Zuma was ranked number one on the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party’s candidate list.

Zuma was found in contempt of court in the Constitutional Court in 2021 and sentenced to 15 months.

Kotzé explains. “President Zuma was sentenced to 15 months and he has concluded that less than five years since now. So from that same point of view, he was disqualified. But now there are arguments that say that President Ramaphosa announced a general release of prisoners in general at the same time as he pardoned people who were on parole. Any form of parole, that they will be able to conclude their sentence immediately. And on the basis of that, he enjoys a form of presidential immunity or presidential pardon; and for that reason, this determination by the Constitution does not apply to him anymore.”