LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: ‘Our people are angry’ — MK party threatens to challenge election results

With President Cyril Ramaphosa expected to officially announce the results of the 2026 local government elections on Sunday, 8 November, at 6pm, the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party has not ruled out the possibility of challenging the outcome in court.Speaking to journalists at the KwaZulu-Natal Operations Results Centre in Durban on Saturday, MK party senior leaders said the party had received numerous complaints from members and supporters, ranging in seriousness.Dali Mpofu, part of former president Jacob Zuma’s legal team during court proceedings to deliver judgment in the Zuma vs Downer Case at Pietermaritzburg High Court on 20 March 2024 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)The party’s Dali Mpofu said the leadership would assess the complaints before deciding whether they warranted legal action.“Obviously, the more serious ones, if they are not addressed, there’s no other resort but to go to the Electoral Court. We are not excluding that option. But as we speak now, we are not preparing papers for that kind of thing,” Mpofu said.“However, we can’t rule anything out because our people on the ground are really angry about some of the discrepancies and irregularities that have happened. So, the leadership sitting here will assess the seriousness of the cases,” he added.The party’s concerns come against the backdrop of its strong electoral performance in the 2024 national and provincial elections, when it emerged as a major political party, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal. In the 2024 provincial elections, the MK party secured 45.3% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal, winning 37 of the 80 seats in the provincial legislature. Despite the good showing, the party was not part of the governing coalition, part of the reason being that it was preoccupied with challenging the outcomes of the general elections, citing technical glitches in the system of the IEC at the time. On 4 November, the MK party contested its first local government elections, where it received more than 3.7 million votes nationally, accounting for 9.8%. The party received the most votes in KZN, where it won over 34%.It has, however, not been able to get an outright majority in the eThekwini metro. On Saturday night, it lodged a Section 65 formal objection with the IEC, raising concerns about possible irregularities in the metro.MK party first deputy president Duduzane Zuma at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) at Gallagher Convention Centre on 5 November 2026 in Midrand. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo) The party’s first deputy president, Duduzane Zuma, echoed Mpofu’s sentiments, saying it would only accept the election results if the party was satisfied that the process had been free and fair.“We will accept the results only if the process is free and fair. If we notice any glitches, any shenanigans, we will raise them. And it’s not us as leaders; it’s the people on the ground [who have raised the issues],” Zuma said.He further called on the IEC to demonstrate the same level of respect and cooperation that the party said it had shown throughout the electoral process.“We have not been unruly. We have been respectful of protocol. We have been respectful in our communication. We expect the same from the IEC. We cannot be the only ones accepting, accepting. The IEC also needs to meet us somewhere,” he said. DM