Former President Jacob Zuma has demanded that the official results of the 2024 general elections should not be declared on Sunday.
According to Zuma, any declaration by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) would amount to “provoking” his new Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. He expressed these concerns during a late-night media briefing at the National Results Operation Centre (ROC) in Gallagher Estate, Midrand.
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The MK party, alongside at least 20 other political parties, has lodged objections with the IEC, alleging vote rigging. The IEC is currently reviewing these objections.
Zuma’s arrival on Saturday night caused a significant stir at the IEC’s results nerve center. The MK party has called for a recount and a commission of inquiry into the elections, even threatening legal action against the IEC.
Jacob Zuma emphasized that the complaints brought to the IEC are “very, very serious.” He criticized the tendency to ignore grave issues in the country, stating, “There is a tendency in this country to ignore serious matters.
“There are people who get arrested, even if they’ve done nothing, but there are people who commit serious crimes. Nothing happened to them.”
Zuma insisted that the results announcement should not be rushed, stating, “We have a bigger right than anybody else to demand that. Institutions can’t then say, ‘we can’t listen to you and let us rush rush,’ because that is provoking people, in reality.”
“I fully agree with my colleagues who say nobody must force us to say these are the results, when the results are incorrect. If they say so, I think the institution must satisfy us that they did look into the issues,” Zuma said.
“We are going to need the time. Nobody must declare tomorrow. If that happens, people will be provoked, we know what we are talking about. I am hoping whoever is responsible is hearing us. Don’t start trouble when there is no trouble.”
The MK party is pushing for complete transparency. Zuma noted, “This time around, it’s very serious. There are numbers that have been put from one direction to the other, there are many things, we are being rushed, we are told bring the report now.”
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The party’s spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndlela, also accused an IT entity in Cape Town of interfering with the election results during a two-hour period. “We want a total revote,” Ndlela emphasized, indicating that the party is exploring legal avenues to achieve this.
He questioned who the IEC was working for. “You are supposed to be working for us. This is not for us to trouble us as South Africans because we know we needed a two-thirds majority. Don’t try to interfere,” Zuma said, adding that those who are meant to receive their complaints must be tolerant.
