THE uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party is in dreamland after former president Jacob Zuma won his case against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
MK and Zuma had taken the commission to the Electoral Court over its decision to remove Zuma’s name from the party’s list of candidates to Parliament.
He argued that the commission did not have the power to decide the objection based on section 47 of the Constitution.
MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela said they commend the court for upholding the truth and ensuring that the rights of MK party and Zuma’s political rights are recognised.
He said the MK had one thing in sight and that was winning the 29 May elections.
“We're going for a two-third majority. We are going to win. Nothing else,” said Ndhlela.
He said Zuma’s win will motivate supporters who want change to come out in numbers to vote MK.
The Electoral Court sitting in the Joburg High Court ruled on Tuesday, 9 April that Zuma's appeal was successful.
"The application for leave to appeal is granted. The appeal succeeds," said Justice Dumisani Zondi.
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He further stated that the decision by the IEC on 28 March to upheld Dr Maroba Matsapola's objection to Zuma being on parliamentary list was set aside.
Zondi instructed the IEC to substitute its decision with the following: "The objection is hereby dismissed.”
Zuma told the court on Monday that the IEC had no authority to prevent him from going to Parliament.
His lawyer Advocate Dali Mpofu SC said that it was the National Assembly (NA) that could determine if a person was eligible to be a member of Parliament.
In 2021, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months without an option of a fine for ignoring a court order to testify at an inquiry into corruption during his tenure.
Two years later, he was among 9 488 prisoners serving sentences less than two years for non-violent crimes who were granted remission by President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut short their sentences.
According to Section 47 of the Constitution, no person convicted for more than 12 months, without the option of a fine, is allowed to hold public office.
Zuma claimed that the remission he received from Ramaphosa meant that his sentence was cut to three months and that made him qualify to be on the ballot.
However, the IEC’s Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC argued that it was wrong to think that the 15-month sentence imposed by the Constitutional Court was reduced to three months after Zuma was granted remission.
He said: “The distinction is that it must be imposed by a judge. The president has no power to impose a sentence.
“The remission never changed the sentence. It never said you are no longer sentenced to 15 months now you are sentenced to three months. It simply determined the period of the release. The executive is entitled to do that.”
Ngcukaitobi said the reason the lawmakers put the sentence at 12 months was because it was a signal of the seriousness, not only of the conviction, but of the offence.
MK called for the resignation of Electoral Commission CEO Janet Love, alleging bias in Zuma's case among thousands of candidates.
At the time of publishing, IEC hadn't responded to Daily Sun's enquiry for a comment.
