Durban — Irked by the allegations of vote rigging during the May 29 elections, thousands of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) members clad in camouflage fatigues marched to the high court in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
They gathered outside the court chanting revolutionary songs, where an official of the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) was appearing over charges stemming from them allegedly being found with ballot papers in the Pietermaritzburg area without supervision.
The official cannot be named as the official had not yet pleaded to the charges.
The Jacob Zuma-led MKP won 58 seats in the 400-member National Assembly and 37 in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature, with 80 seats.
Despite achieving showing against a run-off with formidable foes such as the ANC and the IFP, the MKP claimed it had been cheated, maintaining that more than nine million votes were unaccounted for.
During the march on Wednesday, MKP regional co-ordinator Mzwandile Goge said: “We will continue to complain about the election results because they were rigged in broad daylight. We will not allow the IEC to subdue the will of the people by stealing votes that belonged to the MK Party.”
About the ANC-IFP-DA and the NFP coalition governing KwaZulu-Natal, Goge said his party was unshaken.
“This stokvel grouping will collapse soon and we, the legitimate government, will take over the province as the party that received the most votes. The current leadership is an illegitimate government, and they know it,” said Goge.
Some MKP members hoisted placards stating “The IEC Robbed Us” during the march.
The 58 MKP Members of Parliament initially boycotted the swearing-in ceremony amid the claims of vote rigging.
But they later relented and were sworn in on Tuesday.
Among them were Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, and the former Western Cape judge president, John Hlophe, who is the MKP chief whip in Parliament.
Goge said the will of the people of KZN who voted for the MKP to be in charge of the provincial government would be fulfilled soon.
The organiser of the MKP in the Moses Mabhida region, Reggie Ngcobo, took a jab at the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“We will not accept being in a coalition with Helen Zille (chairperson of the Federal Council) of the DA. We will not accept being manipulated by John Steenhuisen (leader of the DA).”
Not pulling his punches, Ngcobo said they still stood by the fact that there were MKP votes that were not counted.
On Wednesday, the court heard presentations from the lawyers of the accused and the IEC, who said that the case should be heard in the Electoral Court, while the MKP wants it to continue in the magistrate’s court.
The court will decide on Thursday (today) whether the case will continue in the magistrate’s court or would be transferred to the Electoral Court.
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