POLL | Should the MK Party sit out the May 29 elections?

The MK Party's (MKP) election strategy has been met by challenges, including court cases and most recently a disgruntled party member wanting its leader, former president Jacob Zuma, to be removed as the face of the party.

Expelled MKP founder Jabulani Khumalo asked the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to remove Zuma as the face of party and from its list of potential members of parliament.

In his letter to the IEC dated May 5, Khumalo said Zuma fraudulently occupies the positions.

“In these circumstances I request urgently that the Electoral Commission should remove Mr Zuma's name as the ‘face’ of MKP,” Khumalo said in the letter to the IEC.

“He should also be immediately removed as the president of the MKP. He occupies both positions through fraudulent and illegal manoeuvres.”

Zuma is entangled in court battles with the IEC and the ANC.

The IEC approached the Constitutional Court after the Electoral Court allowed Zuma to participate in the May 29 polls.

The IEC had earlier concluded Zuma could not contest the elections as he had been sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court in 2021. According to the constitution, a person cannot stand in elections if they have been convicted and sentenced to a jail term longer than 12 months.

The governing ANC and MKP are involved in an uMkhonto we Sizwe trademark legal battle in which the ANC wants the party to stop using the name and logo.  

The Durban high court ruled last month the ANC had not made out a case for the relief it sought, its application was not urgent and it should have approached the Electoral Court, not the high court.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula announced the party planned to appeal the court ruling.

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