MK Party leader Jacob Zuma. Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers.
One of the people cited in the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MK) court papers filed with the Electoral Court this Tuesday has reportedly denied having objected to MK Party leader Jacob Zuma’s inclusion on the ballot paper.
According to ‘Scroll Africa’, an online publication, the man identified as Bethuell Terrence Nkosi, who in the court papers filed with the Electoral Court appears as the third respondent, has revealed that his emails were hacked.
Maroba Matsapola, who is cited as the second respondent, has however, admitted to having objected to Zuma’s inclusion on the ballot.
This comes a day after Zuma appealed against the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) decision to uphold an objection lodged against Zuma’s candidacy to return to Parliament.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the party reached out to both respondents and learned that one of them did not know anything about the objection as his emails were hacked.
“Our lawyers contacted two people who filed the objection with the IEC. The first one is Dr Maroba Jimmy Matsapola of the Western Cape Gambling Board and a guy called Bethuell Nkosi. Matsapola agreed with our lawyers that he filed the objection while Nkosi told our lawyers that he knew nothing about the objection to the IEC as his emails were hacked,” Ndhlela said.
The Electoral Court has until April 9 to determine the appeal of the disqualification of Zuma as a candidate in the elections.
Last week, the IEC upheld a member of the public’s objection against Zuma who served part of his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
The party has indicated that the objection by the IEC will not withstand legal scrutiny as Zuma was not unlawfully charged and arrested when he was slapped with a 15-month jail term for refusing to return to the State Capture Commission of Inquiry in 2021.
In the papers filed with the Electoral Court, the lawyers argue that Zuma was not convicted of a crime but for contempt of court and that this equates to a civil offence and not a criminal offence.
Based on this, the lawyers argue that Zuma should therefore be eligible to contest the election on May 29.
The papers also argue that Zuma was not given the option to appeal his 15-month sentence and that the subsequent remission of his sentence was not taken into account.
Ndhlela told SABC News on Wednesday that the IEC had not acted in accordance with the rule of law principle.
“The IEC Act exists off the back of the constitution. So, effectively, what that means is that they must draw any decisions that they make off the back of a court outcome of which, in this case, we would like to believe is making us raise eyebrows about the IEC’s posture. Because what it seems is them having put the cart before the horse in announcing that President Zuma cannot participate in our parliamentary list in Parliament.
“How is that so when they themselves announce that they will take guidance from the courts? We haven’t been to court to deal with this appeal in the first place,” he said.
The Star
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