Another day, another MK Party story 😶. The uMkhonto WeSizwe Party seems to be fighting never-ending battles that could impact the upcoming national elections. Let’s take a look at some of the developments for the embattled party.
Zuma and The ConCourt
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will have to plead their case against former president Jacob Zuma’s candidacy as a member of parliament in the Constitutional Court next week. On Friday, 29 March, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya announced that Zuma was ineligible to contest the national elections, citing constitutional regulations disqualifying individuals sentenced to over 12 months in prison. This decision came in the wake of Zuma’s conviction in 2021 for contempt of court, resulting in a 15-month prison sentence.
The MK Party took this matter to the Electoral Court, which cleared Msholozi, as Zuma is affectionately known by fans, On 9 April.
The IEC then approached the highest court in the land for an urgent hearing. They argued, “On any of the arguments that were made before it, the electoral court is wrong in law.” They say that the electoral court ignored section 47 (1)(e) of the Constitution, which prohibits anyone with a criminal record from serving as an MP for five years after being sentenced.
The ConCourt is set to hear the IEC’s challenge on 10 May. “The Commission wishes to emphasise that this appeal is not intended to involve itself in the political field of play; it is rather to ensure free and fair elections by ensuring that applicable constitutional provisions relating to elections are clearly understood by all role-players and applied evenly. We, therefore, wish for the matter to be determined before the date of the election,” their statement said.
War at home, MK?
Last Friday, The MK Party revealed that it had, after “attempts by external forces to destabilise the MK Party”, decided to expel several members, including the (kinda, sorta) founder of the organisation, Jabulani Khumalo. Along with Khumalo, the party expelled Ray Khumalo, Bheki Manzini, Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson. The party has called the five “rogue elements.”
The expelled five were some of the party’s highest-ranking members on the party’s election, with Moepeng being party treasurer-general and fourth on the list.
But the party’s woes continue. A former party senior official, Lennox Ntsodo, claimed that the party forged signatures to meet the threshold to qualify for the elections. 💀💀
Ntsodo claims, in an affidavit, that in February, 20 people were hired to assist in forgery after the IEC rejected the MK Party’s initial registration application. The signatures were allegedly sourced from a jobseekers database of the Cape Metro council and some from a burial scheme.
The IEC has urged the Western Cape Police to speed up the investigations into the claims. “The commission calls on crime investigation authorities to expedite the investigations to establish the verity of the allegations. An expeditious investigation is essential for the conduct of free and fair elections,” it said on Monday.
Despite all the trials and tribulations the party seems to be experiencing, there is a ray of hope for them. The latest poll by market research company Ipsos shows that the party is polling at 8.5%
This is having devastating consequences for other parties but especially the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who went from polling at 19.6% in February to just 11.5% in April. Now, these polls aren’t predictors of how the elections will look, but they give us all a glimpse into what the new parliament could look like after South Africans head to the polls.
