MKP asks Concourt to interdict first sitting of parliament

The MK Party has approached the Constitutional Court, asking it to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly scheduled for Friday, and also that President Cyril Ramaphosa must set dates for another election.

In court papers filed this week, the party’s interim secretary-general Sihle Ngubane said the party wants the court to declare that the National Assembly is not properly constituted unless in its first sitting it consists of 350 or more members.

In Part B of the matter, Ngubane said they want the court to declare that the decision by chief justice Raymond Zondo and the secretary of parliament, Xolile George, to proceed with the first sitting of the National Assembly was inconsistent with the constitution.

“This is an extremely urgent application brought in this court on the basis of exclusive jurisdiction and/or direct access for separate but related relief,” he said in court papers.

Ngubane also said the party wants the court to declare as unconstitutional the IEC’s decision to declare the 2024 elections free and fair. It also wants Ramaphosa to be ordered to call and set dates for another election which it said must be within 90 days after a court order.

“The matter as a whole is self-evidently urgent because the first sitting in question is constitutionally ordained to take place within 14 days after the results were declared on June 2 2024. The urgency is therefore not self-created but created by the constitution,” Ngubane said.

Ngubane said approaching the high court or the Electoral Court would not have yielded the desired outcome. He said the party wanted to demonstrate in Part B of its application that the 2024 elections “were anything but free and fair”, for reasons which include the number of objections, which he said were finalised by the IEC but had not been satisfactorily dealt with.

“The indisputable fact is that some of the new objections which remain to be properly considered by the IEC are likely to have material effects on the outcome of the elections.

“Although the applicant is in possession of a large and growing body of evidence to support the … instances of material irregularities and/or vote rigging, no useful purpose will be served including such information herein at this stage.”

However, Ngubane did not provide proof of this.

The party had earlier said its 58 MPs expected to occupy seats in the National Assembly will boycott and not attend the first sitting, which prompted parliament to cancel all arrangements for their accommodation and flights.

On Monday, parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said this was done to avoid incurring fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Mothapo also said parliament disagreed with the MK Party’s interpretation of section 46 of the constitution.

“Parliament is of the view that it is legally bound to facilitate the first sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces at a date and time determined by the chief justice, and there are no legal impediments preventing this process.

“According to section 49(3) of the constitution, unless and until the results of the election are set aside by a court, parliament must ensure that the sittings proceed as directed.

“Because the first sittings of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces will take place physically, the parliamentary administration is in the process of making arrangements to provide travel and accommodation for all members listed by the IEC, as handed over by the chief justice, to attend these sittings and the associated onboarding activities scheduled in Cape Town.”