By Angela Quintal
A row between the African Christian Democratic Party and Azapo over who is entitled to an extra seat in parliament will play out in the electoral court next week.
A spokesperson for the electoral court confirmed the ACDP's legal challenge would be heard in Pretoria on Tuesday. It is expected to last a day.
The ACDP claims it was deprived of a seventh parliamentary seat after the Independent Electoral Commission incorrectly allocated votes to Azapo.
Azapo went ahead with the swearing in of its secretary-general Dan Habedi as its second member of parliament on Wednesday, but pledged to uphold the rule of law if the court ruled against it.
Habedi attended Thursday's first sitting of the National Assembly and will participate in Monday's special joint sitting to mark 10 years of a democratic parliament. Former president Nelson Mandela will address both houses and a plaque will be unveiled in his honour.
Depending on the court's ruling Habedi may be one of the shortest-serving MPs in the democratic parliament's history.
The ACDP discovered two days after the IEC declared the official election results that Azapo was incorrectly given 2 666 ANC votes, which meant it should not have qualified for a second seat.
Azapo argues that as the results were officially declared by the time the error was picked up, it is entitled to keep the seat. If the court rules in the ACDP's favour it will join the Independent Democrats and the New National Party who have seven seats each in the 400-member assembly.
Azapo president Mosibudi Mangena resigned his seat last week after President Thabo Mbeki appointed him to his cabinet as the new science and technology minister. In terms of the constitution the president can appoint two ministers from outside the national assembly. This paved the way for Habedi, a teacher from Orlando-West in Soweto, to replace Mangena in parliament.