The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, has until Tuesday to file papers opposing the bid by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to disqualify him as a candidate to parliament.
The hearing is set for May 10, just 19 days before the election date. The IEC is appealing an earlier judgment by the electoral court, which found that Zuma’s 15-month prison for contempt of a Constitutional Court order is not a sentence because the former president could not appeal.
The IEC applied to the Constitutional Court for an order to declare that Zuma had been convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment and so was not eligible to be a member of, and not qualified to stand for election to, the National Assembly until five years had lapsed since the completion of his sentence.
Zuma’s name appears first on the list of MK candidates to parliament, signalling that he is the party’s presidential candidate. His face will also appear alongside the MK logo on the national and provincial ballot papers.
As the elections nears, political parties will continue to be on the campaign trail this week.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to campaign in the Western Cape for the ANC until May 4. He will deliver the party’s message of support at Cosatu’s annual Workers Day commemorations on May 1. The province has been governed by the DA since 2009 but the party is facing pressure from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and there are new parties targeting the Western Cape, such as ActionSA and Rise Mzansi, which appeal to the DA’s traditional liberal voter base.
The DA is also facing pressure from other parties such as GOOD, led by minister of tourism and former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. De Lille and the PA’s Gayton McKenzie are their parties’ premier candidates in the Western Cape.
John Steenhuisen is scheduled to launch the DA’s provincial manifesto in the North West on Monday, followed by a Workers Day rally in the Western Cape on Wednesday. On Thursday, he will be in Johannesburg to continue the party’s countrywide “Rescue SA” tour.
EFF leader Julius Malema will address three separate community meetings in Tshwane on Workers Day.
According to the latest elections survey by market research firm Ipsos, ANC support could fall to 40.2%. This is down from the 40.5% it polled on February 6 and the 43% it polled on October 27 2023. The DA polled at 21.9%, up from 20.5% on February 6 and 20% in October 2023.
The EFF, SA’s third-largest political party, could receive 11.5% of the vote, down from 19.6% in February and 18% in October.
The MK party could receive 11.5% of voter share. There are no figures for the party in February and October.
The mayor of eThekwini, Mxolisi Kaunda, will deliver the state of the city address on Tuesday. He is “expected to provide a detailed account of the municipality’s performance, while outlining interventions to deal with service delivery and social challenges”, the city said in a statement.
Durban has been bogged down by myriad service delivery issues, such as the provision of water, sanitation and electricity. The metro’s irregular expenditure, which has doubled to R2.4bn, and failure to collect debt has put pressure on service delivery, according to the auditor-general’s report for 2022/23.
Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda will deliver the state of the city address on Thursday.
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