Durban — In a show of force, thousands of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) members marched in KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg and Durban on Wednesday, bringing the latter to a complete standstill.
In Durban, clad in camouflage fatigues and party regalia, more than 1 000 buoyant MKP supporters chanted Struggle songs while trekking to the Durban City Hall along Pixley ka Isaka Seme (West Street), alleging that the May 29 elections were rigged.
MKP deputy secretary-general Thulani Shongwe said that the elections would be rerun.
“We have collected new evidence that points to massive vote-rigging that happened to block the MK Party from winning the elections.
“We will not rest until the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission of SA) corrects its mistake,” said Shongwe to thundering applause and ululation.
He added: “Comrades, we can’t allow the IEC to escape this. We will fight until our votes are returned. We worked very hard to be cheated by the IEC.”
His scathing parting shot was: “We will not be intimidated by courts. We were voted in by millions of the people of this country and we will fight to represent them well by fighting against the injustice of the stealing of MKP votes.”
The Jacob Zuma-led MKP has alleged that the elections were rigged, going as far as dragging the IEC to court. The party claimed that more than 9.3 million votes were unaccounted for.
The IEC has repeatedly rejected the claim, maintaining that the election was free and fair despite minor glitches at some voting stations.
In a turn of events, the MKP abruptly withdrew its case against the IEC last month but vowed to file a fresh case, claiming it was combing through new evidence it had gathered.
However, the IEC is saying it will not let the matter go, maintaining that the allegations by MKP have damaged its reputation.
The matter will be heard virtually on Monday, July 29, at 9am, according to the registrar of the Electoral Court, Delisile Nhlapho, in her letter dated Monday, July 15.
There was a heavy police contingent that kept a close eye on the marchers in Durban. There was no incident of violence or altercation between the police and the MKP backers.
Senior eThekwini Municipality official Sipho Cele accepted the MKP memorandum, which included, among others, the call for a rerun of the elections.
The MKP became the third-largest party after the elections, with 58 seats in the National Assembly. In KZN, the party’s strongest support base, the MKP raked in 37 seats in the provincial legislature of 80 seats.
The marchers in Durban also lashed out at the Government of National Unity, labelling it an illegitimate government. Among them was prominent MKP member Bonginkosi Khanyile.
Meanwhile, MKP leader former president Jacob Zuma reportedly did not attend the disciplinary hearing against him by the ANC, citing a “network problem” at his Nkandla homestead.
The ANC, a party Zuma led for 10 years as president between 2007 and 2017, dragged him to the disciplinary hearing after he publicly endorsed the MKP in December and campaigned for it while still a member of the ANC.
The disciplinary hearing against Zuma was postponed to July 23.
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