ANC caught napping, loses crucial case to new MKP

ANC SECRETARY-general Fikile Mbalula and his party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) seem to have been caught sleeping on the job after their party lost a crucial court case ahead of the May 29 national elections.

The governing party had lodged an application with the Electoral Court seeking for it to deregister the breakaway uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP) from the ballot in the upcoming elections. However, the application was dismissed.

The judgment has given credence to the newly formed party led by former president Jacob Zuma, who will now be allowed to contest the elections.

The two parties are also at loggerheads, contesting the right to use the name MKP in a second court challenge that will be heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court today.

In a scathing ruling by Judge Lebohang Modiba in the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, yesterday, she stated that the ANC had no basis for its case, dismissing the application and saying it only had itself to blame.

The ANC had argued that it should be allowed condonation since the party discovered late that the MKP’s second application for registration had been successful.

The governing party had further argued that the late submission was because its offices, including that of its lawyers, were closed during the festive season.

However, Judge Modiba said the ANC had failed to take advantage of two opportunities provided by the Electoral Act to object to the registration of the new party last year, lamenting that the party had “only itself to blame” for failing to object.

“We find there is nothing unlawful about the registration of the MK Party by the deputy chief electoral officer,” Judge Modiba said.

The court would be infringing on MKP’s rights if it were to grant the ANC relief, the judge said.

“In both, it failed to do so. Therefore it only has itself to blame for not being aware of the August 4, 2023 decision until January 2024. If the ANC’s relief is granted, it will be too late for MK to register as a political party and contest the upcoming elections,” Judge Modiba said.

A party seeking condonation must submit a full explanation and the court considers whether the condonation will be in the interest of justice, the judge said.

The court also found that the ANC had failed to explain why it took more than a month to discuss and decide on what action to take while the party waited until Boxing Day (December 26) to brief its legal team on the matter.

The ANC failed to start the legal process three months before the festive season, she said. Therefore, the court rejected the application for late submission of its objections by the ANC.