Judgment in the ANC's application to declare Jacob Zuma's MK Party’s registration unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid has been reserved. The judge said the parties' legal representatives will be informed on when the judgment will be delivered.
The reserve judgment was handed down on Tuesday afternoon during a sitting in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
This reserve judgment comes after the ANC and MKP have been at loggerheads over the Umkhonto weSizwe trademark, with the ruling party claiming that former president Jacob Zuma’s party was stealing its legacy.
During the proceedings, the MKP legal counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu argued the ANC's application against MKP was misconceived and should be dismissed with costs.
MKP's argument was that the ANC was trying to cover up their negligence for failing to stop the party's registration.
The MK Party was registered in September 2023 and grew after Zuma endorsed it.
The party has gained traction and grew in popularity. According to an opinion poll, it could become the third-largest party in South Africa and also push the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to being the fourth one.
The ANC's legal counsel, Sesi Baloyi told the court that the ruling party was not in court to dispute MKP's existence, but stated that they are against the procedure that was followed to register the party.
The ANC's advocate Tshidiso Ramogale, argued for the court to hear the matter with urgency.
Ramogale told the court that election day was around the corner and that it needed to be certain on whether MKP will be on the ballot lawfully or not.
The ANC has previously argued that MK and its logo belonged to them. It demanded that the MK Party be deregistered by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
It further argued that the case should be heard urgently. MK is the now disbanded armed wing of the ANC.
On Wednesday, the MK Party Youth President Bonginkosi Khanyile threatened in a media briefing that all hell would break loose if Zuma and his party were not allowed on the ballot paper, come election day in May.
"If they remove the MKP and President Zuma from the ballot as the face of the campaign and try to take our rights, there won't be elections in South Africa," Khanyile said.
During the briefing, he announced that they were putting Zuma’s name forward as the presidential candidate for the party.
In December last year, Zuma announced he would vote for MKP and not the ANC in the upcoming elections, but maintained that he would remain an ANC member.
He said his conscience would not allow him to vote for the ANC or President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to Zuma, he had turned down a request from some of the ANC leaders who had asked him to campaign for the party in the 2024 elections to help them emerge victorious.
President Ramaphosa has since announced the national and provincial elections will be held on May 29.
Ramaphosa has sent a stern warning ahead of the elections that those threatening violence will be arrested by law enforcement agencies.
The ANC also warned against threats by Visvin Reddy of the MKP in KwaZulu-Natal. Reddy was seen on social media making threats if the party was not allowed to contest the elections.
IOL Politics