‘We accepted it the last time’: MK party hints at possible court challenge over IEC results

The Jacob Zuma-led political formation has lodged a number of objections with the IEC. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party says it will not rule out the option of approaching the Electoral Court over a number of irregularities reported by the organisation. On Friday, the party announced that it had lodged several objections with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). The most notable objections relate to the counting of votes in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The party’s national leaders held a media briefing at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban on Saturday, 7 November 2026. Advocate Dali Mpofu, a member of the party’s high command, led the briefing. “As far as litigation is concerned, as I said earlier, we are receiving various complaints of different levels of seriousness. “Obviously, the more serious ones, if they are not addressed, there is 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 anything. “You can’t rule anything out because our people on the ground are really, really angry with some of the transgressions and irregularities,” the prominent lawyer explained. Mpofu stressed that the party would assess the seriousness of each case. Why did MK party go to court after 2024 elections? However, Mpofu contended that the media should not compare the current objections lodged by the MK party with the complaints that arose from the 2024 general elections. “Remember, the 2024 litigation was specifically about the issue of the two-hour interregnum and the IT glitch. “It looks like this country is just full of IT glitches, which is a new word for negligence and irregularity. “So, those so-called technical glitches are what led to that particular litigation.” eThwekwini protests Mpofu further indicated the MK party had taken note of the discontent among its members in eThekwini, who protested outside the convention centre on Friday. The members claimed that they did not trust the IEC’s vote-counting process and believed that the party should have received more votes in the metropolitan municipality. “In this country, protest is allowed, and we are a protest movement ourselves, so you cannot stop people from protesting. “People must protest until the cows come home. There is nothing wrong with that.” Duduzane Zuma, the MK party’s first deputy president, meanwhile, state that he understood that some party members in KZN were unhappy with some of the alleged irregularities that had occurred. “They have been raising concerns each day, every day, and they reflected back to 2024. “They are saying to us, ‘We are seeing this thing happening all over again in a different sense’,” Zuma said. Coalition talks Zuma added that the party leaders have been inundated with phone calls and messages of alleged irregularities concerning this round of elections. “We accepted it the last time. Now, are we expected to accept it this time when we see possible shenanigans? “What we are speaking about is information that we are getting from our ground support and our party agents. “This is information we are collating; we are not speaking for the sake of speaking.” Meanwhile, the party has announced a team of national leaders who will lead coalition talks in different municipalities. The Jacob Zuma-led political formation indicated that it will be negotiating with a group of parties that describe themselves as “progressive”. The MK party also believes it has done well in this year’s local government elections despite some critics saying that the organisation did not perform as well as it did in 2024. MEDIA STATEMENT]STATEMENT ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NATIONAL COALITION NEGOTIATIONS TEAM AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL NEGOTIATING FRAMEWORK. pic.twitter.com/6rd6JjjBsw— uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (Official) (@MkhontoweSizwex) November 7, 2026