The legal facts behind the IEC/MK case – is it as simply as withdrawal?

Early Breakfast with Africa Melane

Benedict Phiri | Managing Director at IusPrudentia Special Counsel

For the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to clear any doubts concerning the May 29 election results, it should continue to fight to have the MK Party's (MKP) vote-rigging case heard by the Electoral Court despite the party withdrawing from the legal rodeo.

This was the sentiment of Unisa political analyst Prof Dirk Kotze after MKP leader Jacob Zuma recently claimed it had evidence “as huge as an elephant” to back its allegation that millions of votes were fraudulently handled.

“One of the things that makes us say we are withdrawing the case is because the evidence we have received is as huge as an elephant. The lawyers need more time to write everything down,” Zuma told party supporters on Sunday.

In the past Zuma has been known to make claims he fails to support.

Last week the party issued a notice of withdrawal to the court in its application against the IEC.

Kotze told TimesLIVE the vote-rigging case was vital to clear any doubts about the election results. “The bottom line is if they [MKP] have evidence, they must produce it. They withdrew the case. This means they do not have sufficient evidence to convince the court to order a rerun of the elections,” he said.

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