uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) leader and former president Jacob Zuma has called for the upcoming local government elections to be postponed pending the resolution of a vote-rigging dispute currently before the Electoral Court.
Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the credibility of any future polls would be questionable if the matter is not addressed first. He described the case as a legitimate court action brought by the party against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), alleging interference in the electoral system aimed at undermining the results of the previous elections.
In a detailed interview, Ndhlela insisted the allegations should not be dismissed as mere claims. “We should refer to this as a legitimate court case that has been brought to the courts, specifically the Electoral Court,” he said. He pointed to documents filed by the IEC itself, in which the commission’s IT expert admitted that the IEC had interfered with a live production system during the counting process because it was “not optimally updating the results.”
Ndhlela questioned the IEC’s authority to make such changes mid-process. “Who gave you the right to go and interfere with a live production system that has been working very well until the time at which you then supposedly wanted to optimize the system?” he asked, adding that the system went down for two hours. As an IT-trained individual, he argued that performing an update on a mission-critical live system in the middle of operations was unacceptable and lent credence to the party’s rigging allegations.
The spokesperson revealed that the party had requested an interlocutory process in court, seeking an incident report explaining why the interference occurred and who authorised it. However, the court ruled on a technicality that the IEC did not have to submit the requested documentation. Ndhlela warned that proceeding with new elections while the IEC operates under such a “cloud” would perpetuate unfair processes and undermine public trust.
He acknowledged that the party had previously approached the Electoral Court and the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis without success. In June 2025, Electoral Court Judge Lebogang Modiba ruled that the MK Party’s initial allegations were “scandalous, vague, and designed to tarnish the commission unjustifiably and its CEO, the IEC’s, reputation and credibility and to erode public trust in South Africa’s electoral system.”
Despite those earlier setbacks, Ndhlela emphasised that a main case remains active and is scheduled to be heard by the same Electoral Court on 18 June. At that hearing, the party intends to present fresh evidence — including documentation never previously seen by the court — to demonstrate that the elections were not free and fair. This includes details around the system interference, the two-hour downtime, and an expert analysis showing that results were altered “by design.” The IEC will also have the opportunity to respond.
“Until then we cannot say that these elections were free and fair,” Ndhlela stated. He added that the party would pursue the matter “till the end, right up to international courts if need be,” but would start with the pending domestic proceedings.
Addressing questions about the party’s preparedness, Ndhlela pointed out that critics had similarly doubted the MK Party’s readiness ahead of the previous national elections. “Why wouldn’t we be ready now?” he asked, confirming the party was fully equipped to field candidates should the local elections proceed.