ANC drags IEC to Electoral Court

The African National Congress (ANC) is taking the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, 19 March, over the IEC’s registration of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party on the 2024 ballot.

The ruling party says it was unlawful for the MK party to be registered on a “supplemented” application. The party said through its lawyers that it seeks a review of the registration on the ballot because it failed to comply with the law. See the video below.

[WATCH] You don’t go to court without being confident. South Africa and the world know that uMkhonto we Sizwe belongs to the ANC, and we do not agree with what the IEC has done in their recognition process, hence the court process we are engaged in.

One day an ANC conference… pic.twitter.com/E6J9R6vp6p

— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) March 16, 2024

ANC SAYS IEC MUST COMPLY WITH THE LAW

“The existence of a growing practice by the Electoral Commission to permit registration applications to be supplemented is an urgent matter that requires this Court’s intervention,” says the ANC in it’s court papers.

“If this Court does not urgently intervene, the Electoral Commission’s unlawful conduct will continue, and its decision-making will be at risk of becoming arbitrary,” it stated.

The party said it aims to convince the specialist bench that the Commission’s Deputy Chief Electoral Officer failed to comply with the law when he considered a “supplemented” application by the MK Party for registering it as a political party on 7 September.

LOGO AND TRADEMARK CASE AGAINST MK PARTY SET FOR 27 MARCH

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says they are confident that the MK Party will be deregistered. He said the logo and trademark dispute, which is a separate case, would be heard by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Durban on 27 March.

“This is the first leg; the second one that is coming is the patent. This MK logo and everything belongs to the ANC and we will prove that in Court. Jacob Zuma and his supporters must be ready for engagement on this one,” he said.

Meanwhile, the IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, said the IEC had filed what it terms “a comprehensive and candid account of the facts” before the Court. He said the ANC’s review application suffered several defects before the Court.

ANC INTERPRETATION OF FACTS IS WRONG, SAYS MK PARTY

“The matter between MK and the ANC regarding the registration of the party is in the hands of the Court. We have said all that we needed to say in terms of our filing in the Court,” Mamabolo said to the national broadcaster.

The MK party, however, responded in court papers, saying that its registration was lawful and that the ANC’s attempt to label the IEC as incompetent was a mistake.

“The ANC’s interpretation seeks to interpret the statute and letter in a manner that seeks to limit this fundamental right. To do so would breach section 39(2) of the Constitution,” the MK Party said.