The Umkhonto weSizwe party (MK Party) has rejected the IEC’s ruling against former president Jacob Zuma on being a party candidate on the MK Party list. The party plans to challenge the IEC through the courts, however, they said they are still studying the objection.

According to Section 47 of the Constitution, any person who has been sentenced to more than 12 months is prohibited from becoming a member of Parliament. The former president was sentenced to 15 months in jail by the Constitutional Court after a contempt of court conviction because he refused to testify before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which was established while he was still president in 2018.

Speaking to the media in centurion, EC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the party has been informed of this decision, and that they will still contest the elections. Any objector, party or candidate who is not happy with the decision of the commission may appeal the decision with the Electoral Court by 2^nd April 2024.

Background information about the MK Party: uMkhonto weSizwe was established in December 2023. It bears the name of the African National Congress (ANC) paramilitary group during apartheid, uMkhonto we Sizwe. The party gained notoriety in December 2023 when former president Jacob Zuma declared that, although he intended to stay an ANC member for the rest of his life, he would be supporting MK in this year’s elections instead of the ANC. He declared that it would be a “betrayal” to support current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma’s successor, in an ANC campaign, saying “I cannot and will not.”

The ANC threatened legal action over the usage of the name, and the formation has been criticised by original MK veterans. In one of the cases, the ANC sought to have the MKP deregistered. They lost that case. In an ongoing one, the ANC wants the MK Party to be barred from using the name “uMkhonto we Sizwe” and its logo, which the ruling party claims is the ANC’s intellectual property.

Legal experts remain divided over the predictions of the outcome of the case, with some saying the ANC will lose this legal battle as well.