uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) says former president Jacob Zuma will be a “de facto” president from his Nkandla homestead should the party emerge victorious in next week’s elections.
This follows Monday’s Constitutional Court ruling that Zuma was ineligible to contest elections for parliament, and thus the presidency, in the May 29 general election because of his conviction for contempt of court in 2021.
However, the party insists it is not fazed by that ruling because Zuma will be running the country from the comfort of his Nkandla home should the party win.
“That ruling does not mean anything. Zuma does not need to sit on the parliament benches to run the country,” said Bonginkosi Khanyile, former MK Youth League leader.
Khanyile was speaking to hundreds of MK supporters who convened a march in Durban on Wednesday to “expose [the] disingenuity of South African courts and eThekwini municipality”.
MK leaders who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium alleged the IEC was biased against Zuma and insisted the decision by the country’s apex court was unfair.
“We believe the ConCourt didn’t give Msholozi the justice he deserves. Msholozi is always the case study of South African law. All laws are created through Zuma’s injustice. Everything starts with him,” said Archbishop Professor TB Ngcobo, national convener of MK’s religious wing.
Those sentiments were echoed by Qiniso Celane, MKYL convener in eThekwini.
“[The] IEC took a biased decision in conjunction with the ConCourt and prevented our leader Jacob Zuma from being elected to parliament. He was arrested wrongfully without ever standing trial or getting a chance to appeal. It was a Zuma sentence — never seen or heard of before,” said Celane.
The party is adamant it will do everything possible to ensure that Zuma rules the country if it is able to get a majority vote at the polls.
One avenue to achieve this is by amending the constitution so the ruling excluding Zuma from parliament is rescinded.
“Msholozi is already on the ballot. Our job now is to make sure that we get a two-thirds majority and change the constitution from the current Roman-Dutch law to African law,” added Celane.
However, even if the party were to get a two-thirds majority, it would be a number of years before the constitution could be amended.
Khanyile said the party was considering all avenues to make Zuma's return to power a reality.
He said while it was their plan to amend the constitution, their first plan of action would be to appeal the ConCourt decision, even if it means taking the matter to an international tribunal such as the UN's International Court of Justice.
On the subject of a possible replacement presidential candidate, Khanyile said: “Zuma will appoint that person himself. There are no names on the table, and we don't want to discuss any names. The organisation is still young, we don't want many discussions for now. We trust Zuma’s wisdom.”
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