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MKP leaders leap to the courts as first Parly sitting edges closer

todayJune 11, 2024 101

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With a few days to go before the much-anticipated first official sitting of Parliament, issues plaguing the MK Party (MKP) have reached boiling a point as current and expelled party members approach the courts for two different reasons.
Expelled MK Party leader, Jabulani Khumalo, who is fighting to have his name retained in the party’s list of candidates,
has now approached the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.
He dashed to the court soon after Parliament revealed that his name won’t be on the list of the politicians who will be sworn in as Members of Parliament (MPs) on Friday.
Khumalo was number one on the list after the Constitutional court ruled that Jacob Zuma’s candidacy was unlawful.
Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, says the decision was taken after they received a letter from Jacob Zuma’s party – informing them that Khumalo had been expelled.
Meanwhile the MK Party is awaiting a response from the Constitutional Court after it filed an urgent application, seeking to interdict the very sitting Khumalo wants to attend.
The party has been relentless since the electioneering season, raising concerns about possible vote rigging in favour of the ANC.
While it went into the elections with hopes of clinching a two-thirds majority, Zuma’s party was disappointed when it only managed to garner 14.58% of the votes, nationally.
It also failed to clinch the majority vote in KwaZulu-Natal, where it secured 44.91% of the votes.
The party cried foul after the release of the results it had wanted the IEC not to proceed with pronouncing, citing irregularities and a need for a re-vote.
Despite its attempts to block a way forward, the National Assembly cancelled flights and accommodation for its members who are supposed to be part of the lawmakers who will be sworn in.
Parliament cited legal and Constitutional obligations as reason to continue to facilitate the setting up of the seventh administration.

All this chaos has left many South Africans uneasy as to what exactly might possibly happen on Friday.
A sentiment Cultural and Political Analyst, Professor Musa Xulu, says it’s understandable.
He has described the formation of the MK Party as a tool to destabilise the ANC and South Africa’s 30-year-old democracy.
He says the MKP is Zuma’s personal project, which was not meant to actually participate in the political arena.
Xulu says the MK Party is bad news not only for the country, but for investors too.

He says investors have expressed their concerns over Zuma, especially given concerns following the 2021 July unrest, which ensued after he handed himself over to Correctional Services officials to serve his 15-month sentence handed down by the Apex Court over his refusal to testify before the State Capture Commission, which was looking into claims of widespread corruption at state-owned entities during his tenure as president.

Xulu has, however, quelled worries over the possibility of Zuma’s supporters causing another unrest, saying this time around SAPS won’t be caught napping and have long said they are prepared for any instability.

Written by: Nokwazi Qumbisa

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