South Africa’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, headed by former president Jacob Zuma, on Tuesday filed a case with the Constitutional Court to block the newly elected parliament from taking its seats, because the elections last month were allegedly rigged.
South Africa sailed into uncharted political waters in the May 29 election, as the dominant African National Congress (ANC) party lost its majority for the first time since the fall of apartheid in 1994. The ANC remains the largest party in South Africa, but it must now work out coalition deals with smaller parties to put a government together.
MK, on the other hand, did remarkably well in the election, winning 58 seats. That was good enough to elbow ahead of the radical left-wing ethno-nationalist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to become the third-largest party.
Many observers had underestimated MK’s appeal because Zuma had been jailed on corruption charges and because, at 82 years old, he seemed like a relic of the political past. As it turned out, many younger South Africans gravitated to MK because they felt the EFF was too radical.
Although MK would seem to have much to celebrate after the May 29 results were tabulated, Secretary-General Sihle Ngubane insisted on Tuesday the election was “anything but free and fair.”
MK’s filing with the Constitutional Court noted that some objections to the May 29 vote “remain to be properly considered by the Electoral Commission (IEC),” and since the IEC’s judgments could have “material effects on the outcome of the elections,” the new parliament should not be seated yet.
MK claimed it was in “in possession of a large and growing body of evidence” that the election included “material irregularities and/or vote rigging,” but said “no useful purpose” would be served by disclosing that information at the moment.
MK’s 59 lawmakers said they would boycott the first meeting of the National Assembly, which responded by canceling their flights and hotel accommodations to “avoid fruitless and wasteful expenditure.”
Spokesman Moloto Mothapo said parliamentary officials disagreed with MK’s complaint to the Constitutional Court and saw “no legal impediments” to convening the two houses, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
One member of the MK party who did insist he would attend the first sitting of the National Assembly was Jabulani Khumalo, former leader of the party.
Khumalo and four other MK members were expelled in April in a power play, reportedly on the basis of a confidential “intelligence report” prepared by other party leaders and presented to Zuma.
The party has not discussed exactly why Khumalo and the others were forced out, but it evidently concerned allegations that they were saboteurs sent by other political forces to “infiltrate” and “destabilize” MK. Khumalo was not formally removed from the party list, and went on to win a seat under the MK banner on May 29.
Khumalo said on Monday that he will take his seat at the first session of the new parliament, and he urged the other 57 MK representatives to join him. He denounced MK’s effort to block and boycott the legislature as “misguided” and “embarrassing.”
