The Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party has asked the Electoral Commission (IEC) ahead of the May elections. This follows the Electoral Commission's appeal against the Constitutional Court's ruling that former president Jacob Zuma can stand as the party's candidate in the May elections.
The IEC supported two public appeals against Zuma's candidacy, citing the former head of state's 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court in 2021.
The MK party also called for the immediate resignation of IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Janet Love, citing “blatant bias”.
The party warned that if Mr Love does not resign from the committee within the next seven days, it reserves the right to pursue all available avenues, including taking the matter to court.
The commission said that the complaint was not personal against the MK party leadership and that it clarified the constitutional principles applicable to the nomination of candidates to stand in elections and ensured that they applied equally to all electoral participants. It states that this is to confirm that it is applied.
However, MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Nderela said he was perplexed that the IEC was pursuing the matter, especially as he did not know why the court overturned the decision.
MK party spokesperson Nlamulo Ndlela said:
In a statement, the party cited Mr Love's response to a question at a media conference in January in which he said former president Jacob Zuma was not eligible to be on the MK Party's list of parliamentary candidates.
The statement said the declaration was premature and in violation of election rules, which stipulate that such declarations can only be made in the event of a formal objection.
The party has also taken issue with the fact that Mr Love did not recuse himself from the commission's committee responsible for determining Mr Zuma's eligibility.
MK also referred to the opposition to Mr Love's involvement in an audit of the Democratic Republic of Congo's voter registration process last May.
This came after four prominent opposition candidates accused her of legitimizing a flawed electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission confirmed that it had filed an application to the Constitutional Court seeking a stay of appeal against the Electoral Court's decision in MK's favor to place Mr Zuma on MK's list of MPs.
For more information on the IEC appeal, please see the report below.