MK Party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu. | X
Durban — The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) is reviving the legal battle against the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), alleging electoral fraud that marred the outcome of the May elections.
During a media briefing in Durban on Wednesday, party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu announced that the case is “ready”, but will be launched next year.
“Cases are not presented in rallies. Cases are presented in courts of law, and in terms of the massive evidence that has been presented to the leadership, we are more than confident that when that is brought before a balanced, free, transparent, and open court of law, there will be a clear illustration that there was electoral fraud, which was targeted on uMkhonto weSizwe,” said Shivambu.
The party held the briefing ahead of its first anniversary at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
He said: “It was targeted to try to dwindle and substitute votes, which uMkhonto weSizwe should have otherwise received in the 2024 elections and that will be demonstrated in an open court of law by legal representatives who have been to perform such a function.”
Shivambu said there was a pattern during the election of political parties that were “given” votes that were not supposed to get “at the expense of uMkhonto weSizwe Party”.
“And that will be revealed when we go to court. It is not a frivolous case. It is not a playful case where uMkhonto weSizwe refuses to accept the election result. It’s a genuine case,” said Shivambu.
Alongside Shivambu, Nathi Nhleko, the MKP national chairperson, supported the allegations, claiming that the elections were “littered with irregularities and anomalies”.
He noted the mismanagement of the electoral process: “There is a lot that went wrong. You may choose to ignore certain things because we want to, but we are not going to ignore this one.”
Adding to the momentum, former president Jacob Zuma rallied supporters in KwaXimba on Sunday, confirming the party's intention to take the voterigging claims to international courts.
Since the May elections, which the MKP alleged were deeply flawed with over 9.3 million votes reportedly unaccounted for, the party has attempted legal action against the Electoral Commision of South Africa (IEC).
Although they initially withdrew the case, they have vowed to refile next year.
The MKP is the official opposition party to the Government of National Unity (GNU), formed after no single win with an outright majority.
The party is the biggest in KZN, with 37 seats in the provincial legislature, which has 80 seats.
The IEC has repeatedly denied the claims of vote-rigging.
Shivambu said: “Umkhonto weSizwe Party remains a disciplined liberation movement fighting for total emancipation and freedom, and we remain opposed to the so-called government of national unity (GNU).”
He also announced that the party, which is the biggest in KZN, will hold its first week-long policy conference next year as it cements its policy direction ahead of the 2026 local government election and the 2029 national polls.
Shivambu said the MKP had invited parties under the so-called Progressive Caucus, including his former party EFF, led by Julius Malema and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) led by Vuyo Zungula.
Shivambu was optimistic the party would fill the Moses Mabhida stadium on Sunday.
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