former Western Cape judge John Hollophe;
Jacob Zuma's Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party considers itself the official opposition and will use that role to fight for the abolition of private land ownership, the party's new leader, former judge John Horofe, said on Tuesday.
“With the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) now part of the national unity government, we consider ourselves the official opposition in the country,” Hlophe said after being sworn in as MPs along with other members of his party.
“We will be working very closely with other progressive parties in the opposition, I have the EFF in mind. [Economic Freedom Fighters]I have ATMs in mind [African Transformation Movement] and other progressive parties.
“We stand by the land issue in this country and we make no apologies for that. We want all South Africans, black or white, to have access to land.”
Hlophe said the MK party would work for the “restoration of African law”, particularly with regard to land.
“Land in Africa can never be private property. Land belongs to the state and is not part of private property.”
He said he saw no reason why the premise should be considered shocking.
“And we're not alone in that. If you look at the UK, the land in England belongs to the Queen and everyone else has a 99-year lease,” added the former Western Cape judge and Cambridge law graduate.
“And there's no suggestion that house prices have fallen in the UK because the land belongs to the Queen. But in Africa, we're told that if house prices fall, the rand falls. We've been fooled for too long.”
He said lawmakers are pushing for constitutional amendments but will work within the confines of the law to bring about legislative changes.
“We are not hooligans,” he told reporters.
“We will respond very firmly and respectfully, but to be clear, we are not going to be bullied by anybody.”
Hlophe was impeached by Parliament in February after the Judicial System Commission (JSC) concluded he was guilty of serious misconduct over his alleged attempts in 2008 to influence two Constitutional Court judges to rule in favour of former President Zuma in a case relating to alleged arms trade corruption.
Asked on Tuesday whether he would be willing to serve as a JSC member when parliament appoints its president in the coming days, Hlophe said the party had not yet made a decision.
“I think it's premature for me to make that suggestion. Obviously I have the expertise, I've been a judge for 29 years so I know the system inside out, but if there are people who are suitably qualified and willing to go, those are the people that will be sent.”
He said he believes his knowledge can be put to good use in a number of committees, including in the areas of justice and security.
“There are a lot of committees I can help with.”
Hlophe is not on the party's electoral roll and only announced his intention to join the party caucus as a member of parliament last week. The party's floor leader is Sihle Ngubane.
The party won 58 seats in the National Assembly but boycotted the first session in a misguided attempt to deprive Parliament of seats for President Cyril Ramaphosa's reelection.
The group, which also included Zuma's daughter Duduzile Zuma Sambudla and Des van Rooyen, Zuma's surprise pick as finance minister, were finally sworn in by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Western Cape acting chief justice Patricia Goliath in a brief deliberations on Tuesday. Goliath filed misconduct allegations against Hlophe in 2020 which will be investigated by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal.
Hlophe said the fact that lawmakers had been sworn in did not mean the party would drop its legal challenge to the results of the May elections and, by extension, the composition of parliament.
“We believe the election was rigged, that is our case and the matter is being heard in the appropriate forum,” he said.
In documents filed with the electoral tribunal, the party argued that without electoral fraud it would have “almost certainly” won a majority in the vote.
Hlophe said he was grateful that Zuma had set up the MK party because there was a shared view that the ANC had lost its way.
“[It] “The ANC has completely gone astray. This is not the ANC we knew over the last five years, especially under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa. This is no longer the ANC that fights for the poor.”
He made it clear that MK intends to position itself as a defender of the poor.
“We are not here for positions, we are not here for power. We are here to serve the poor people of this country, black and brown.”
He predicted that Ramaphosa's national unity government would be rife with conflict arising from the ideological divide between the ANC and DA.
“To be fair, there will obviously be some early issues, but there will also be uncertainty and it seems like there is more uncertainty than unity.”
He said the MK party had not yet decided whether to support the EFF's call to reinstate the Article 89 committee report which recommended that Ramaphosa should be impeached for offences stemming from the theft of foreign currency at the Palapala hunting grounds.
“But as far as the political parties are concerned, this is an issue that remains on the agenda and it's a serious issue, because I believe the president has gotten away with it and continues to get away with it.”
Among those being sworn in will be the ANC's former sports, arts and culture minister, Zizi Kodwa, who is facing corruption charges. Kodwa resigned after being charged and on Tuesday did not answer questions about his delayed swearing-in, other than to say “this was my only opportunity”.