MK Party adamant Zuma will be Parly representative: ‘He will be president whether they like it or not’
The former president of South Africa is currently the party’s presidential candidate despite laws preventing him from being eligible to stand for election.
Former President Jacob Zuma addresses members of the media under the banner of the uMkhontho weSizwe (MK) party on 16 December 2023. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/ Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party insists Jacob Zuma will go to Parliament despite laws preventing ex-convicts from being public representatives.
The former State president has become the face of the MK Party, and his name appears first on the party’s national list.
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MK Party chairperson Jabulani Khumalo said Zuma would stand as the party’s presidential candidate.
“Zuma is going to be the president, there is no case against Zuma. You are aware as media they have been trying for years, over 21 years, trying to put him to jail. they failed because he is a straightforward man. Zuma will be the president whether they like it or not.”
As someone who has been sentenced to more than 12 months of imprisonment without the option of a fine and having served the maximum two terms as State president, Zuma is not eligible to stand for election.
This is something the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) commissioner Janet Love recently emphasised, saying they as the IEC are guided by the laws of the country on the eligibility of candidates.
“That excludes anybody who has been given a sentence which was not the subject of any deferral or so on and in that sense, it is not ourselves, but the laws of the country that would stand as an impediment for that candidacy.”