MKP leader Jacob Zuma on Sunday called for the postponement of the local government elections until his party's 2024 election result dispute with the IEC is finalised.
Image: Willem Phungula
Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) leader and founder Jacob Zuma said his party is contemplating making a call for the postponement of the local government elections until the party’s disputed 2024 general election case against the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has been finalised.
Addressing the party’s eThekwini consultative forum on councillor candidate selection on Sunday evening, Zuma spoke at length about the alleged rigging of the 2024 elections that his party is challenging, questioning the IEC’s rationale in preparing for another election while his party is still challenging the previous elections legitimacy.
Zuma asked why the party members were not demanding that before any new election, the electoral body must first deal with the party’s dispute.
“We were robbed in the previous elections. We might call for the postponement of the upcoming elections. You can’t organise another election while you have not resolved the previous one. For me we must be talking with one voice, asking why you bring another election before solving our case first.
"We must speak out in numbers and tell them we are not in the new elections yet and we still need to know what happened to our votes that were stolen. I would be happy if we can all ask, here in KwaZulu-Natal, what happened to our votes. Let’s tell them that we don't want a new election because they have not solved the issues of the previous one,” said Zuma.
He further told the meeting that he has met the party’s legal team and is preparing for the sitting of the case which is expected to be heard early next month by the Electoral Court.
Zuma, called on his party members to double down and win the eThekwini municipality at this year's elections and eventually the province by 2029.
In the 2024 national and general elections, the MKP received 400,000 in eThekwini, becoming the largest party and ending the ANC’s historical dominance. The party is currently holding consultative forums throughout the province as part of a councillor candidate selection process. Although communities participate in the selection process, it is the party leadership that appoints councillors.
After the announcement of the 2024 elections results by the IEC, the MKP claimed that there was widespread rigging of the elections which it claimed it had won. However, in August the same year the party withdrew its case in court but later revived it. The party cited technical glitches which saw the results disappearing for two hours from the national results dashboard and claimed that this was done deliberately 'in order to steal the party’s votes'.
The IEC has already indicated that this year’s local government elections will take place between November and January 2027 and is just waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to promulgate the date.
In 2024, the MKP became the third biggest party with 14,58% of the vote nationally. It also became the biggest party in KwaZulu-Natal with 45% - just short the majority needed to form the provincial government.
The IFP formed a Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) with the DA, ANC and NFP leaving the MKP as the official opposition. As a result, the MKP assumed the role of the official opposition in the provincial parliament.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za