Parliament has announced that the first sitting of Parliament will take place as scheduled on Friday, June 14. This comes after the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party wrote to the Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, requesting them not to continue with the sitting.
The party is not satisfied with the results of the 2024 election. All parties that received enough votes to win seats in parliament will attend Friday's meeting, except for the MK Party.
The party told SABC News it would take legal action if its demands were not met.
Compelling reasons from the MK Party are needed to convince the court that the matter needs to be considered urgently.
Lawyer Lufuno Nebondwe, an expert on the constitution, questioned why the party did not submit its application immediately after the results were announced.
“Let's analyze the MK case. The result was announced on June 2. Currently, no emergency application by the MK party to stop the first session of the parliament has been filed in court, which means there is no urgency. Even if there was an allegation of urgency, it is self-invented and will not be accepted by the court. I believe the emergency application does not satisfy Article 6, paragraph 12 of the Rules of Court Application.”
Political analysts at the University of South Africa say this is all part of a wider plan by the party to portray its members as victims.
“This is all part of MK's ploy to portray themselves as victims after failing in their bid to secure the two-thirds majority they promised to voters,” said Unisa's Professor Dirk Kotze.
Kotze detailed MPs' threats to boycott the first parliamentary session.
“Although MK members will not attend the first meeting, they can still remain MPs if they decide they can take the oath as MPs on another occasion as long as a judge presides over the ceremony.”
The Speaker, Chairperson and Vice-Speaker are elected at the first meeting by a majority vote of 50 percent plus one vote of the members present.
Video: Opening of Parliament – 58 elected members of the Congress Party boycott first session
