In the case brought by the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and its leading candidate, former President Jacob Zuma, the Electoral Court dismissed an objection made against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The IEC says it will wait for the Court to provide the reasons behind its decision.
The MK party filed a lawsuit in March to overturn the IEC’s ruling prohibiting Zuma from running for a parliamentary seat.
The IEC objected, but the Electoral Court rejected it.
Zuma’s prior conviction in 2021, for which he received a sentence of more than 12 months in prison for neglecting to appear before the Zondo Commission, rendered him ineligible.
Section 47 of the Constitution, which states that a candidate cannot be elected to Parliament or the Legislature if they have been found guilty of a crime and condemned without being given the opportunity to pay a fine, served as the foundation for the IEC’s ruling.
The IEC added in its statement that it had asked the Electoral Court to provide justification for the rulings the court had made.
“While the second order concerns the interpretation of the word consulate to encompass honorary consulates as stipulated in section 33(3) of the Electoral Act, the first ruling concerns the candidacy of the former president, Jacob Zuma.
“Naturally the Commission is taking legal advice on both matters and will chart a way forward based on such advice as well as reasoned judgements that it may receive, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future.”
The objection was dismissed by the Electoral Court without a costs order.
When the IEC releases the final lists of party candidates by today, Wednesday, Zuma’s name is anticipated to be on the MK Party list.
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