Zuma’s MK party insists it will pursue new vote-rigging case after withdrawal from Electoral Court

Former president Jacob Zuma addresses a rally outside the Durban High Court in March. He is now calling for South Africans to take to the ballot again after the recent elections. (Photo: Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)

By Naledi Sikhakhane

4 Jul 2024

The uMkhonto WeSizwe party confirmed that it had delivered a notice to the court withdrawing its application before the Electoral Court on Wednesday.

Jacob Zuma’s breakaway party claimed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) failed to oversee a free and fair election, claiming that votes were rigged in the national and provincial elections. It has been calling for South Africans to take to the ballot again, alleging that 9 million votes were missing since the elections on 29 May.

Its dissatisfaction with the IEC resulted in the party initially boycotting the first sitting in Parliament. MK party members were sworn in later than other parties.

“We initiated the application to challenge the conduct of the Electoral Commission of South Africa to declare the national and provincial election results were in haste and violated the will of the people. We are of the firm view that the election results are not credible, free, nor are they fair.

Our reasons, in part, which we will demonstrate in our pursuit to take the matter further, is the failure by the IEC to perform credible forensic audits of its election system,” said party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.

He claimed: ‘The withdrawal is in no way an indication that we do not have a compelling case for the orders we seek. As the MK party we are resolute and will be filing papers as per the answering affidavit that brought about further evidence that strengthens our case against the IEC.”

The party claims that after it filed its application to set aside the election result, the IEC and “its newly found ally, the DA, filed answering affidavits from which it is clear that the IEC wishes to have the matter dismissed as urgently as it declared the results based largely on technicalities,” he said.

Ndhlela said they had gained more evidence of election irregularities and vote rigging.

“We have, however, also been advised by our legal counsel that there are procedural and technical issues that will be further brought to the fore to present such evidence before the application can be adjudicated upon by way of a new application to set aside the election results and the declaration thereof by the IEC,” Ndhlela wrote in a statement.

Ndhlela said experts had uncovered “serious” evidence of election irregularities that motivated the withdrawal as a means to start over with a lower risk of their application being dismissed.

“(It would be) reckless to risk the application being dismissed on the basis of the IEC’s technicalities. Given these circumstances, and to further ensure that all the evidence in the possession of the MK party is presented before the court in a manner that enables a fair adjudication of the matter, we have been advised that the application should be withdrawn for now. In light of the above-mentioned, MK party will be filing a new court case with the necessary courts as a matter of urgency,” Ndhlela added.

Responses

The IEC has continually quashed allegations by the MK party and a number of others, of vote-rigging during special votes and on election day.

ANC spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi said there was no credible basis for the MK party’s claim.

“The secretary-general gave the ANC the position that the ANC welcomes the ANC results and accepts them as credible. That will be for them to provide and substantiate in court. The ANC has not seen any evidence to suggest there is credibility to the claims,” Godlimpi told Daily Maverick.

More legal battles

DA spokesperson Werner Horn said it was clear from the withdrawal of their electoral case, even though it was done on a provisional basis, that MK realised that using a scattergun approach to this would have no chance of succeeding.

“While all of us must respect the right of MK to approach our courts with evidence about irregularities, we, from having also run a parallel voter tabulation process and from having had a party agent present during the counting of votes at thousands of stations, are satisfied that the election was credible,” he said.

MK will be dealing with more cases as its nomination of John Hlophe to be designated to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) may be heading for a legal battle. Six NGOs on Wednesday urged the Speaker of Parliament to not appoint Hlophe, stating that it would be inappropriate for him to serve on the body that found him unsuitable for judicial office earlier this year when he was impeached.

Hlophe, who leads Jacob Zuma’s party in Parliament, has been nominated by his party to serve on the JSC. The Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac), Freedom Under Law, Judges Matter, The Helen Suzman Foundation, Defend Our Democracy and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation also said it would be inappropriate for Hlophe to serve on the body that found him unsuitable for judicial office.

“We understand that Tuesday’s JSC motion was withdrawn, but our concerns remain. It is well known that Dr Hlophe was removed from his previous office as a judge for gross misconduct, having been found to have attempted to influence judges of the Constitutional Court to decide a politically sensitive case relating to former president and now member of the MK party, Mr JG Zuma.” DM

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