MK party, IEC reach agreement over remarks on manipulation of election results
· Citizen
The MK Party and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have drawn a line under their latest legal dispute after agreeing that the electoral body will withdraw its court application against the party, paving the way for both sides to move forward.
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The matter stemmed from remarks made during an MK party event in Umlazi on 25 October by Duduzane Zuma and MK party Youth League Qiniso Cibane, who alleged manipulation of the 2024 election results.
Allegations
The Commission rejected those allegations and subsequently launched legal action in response to statements attributed to the senior party leaders.
MK party national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said the party remains dissatisfied with certain aspects of the 2024 elections but accepted the outcomes of legal processes involving the Commission.
“Although the MK party and its leadership remain aggrieved about certain aspects of the 2024 elections, the party respects the outcomes of the relevant court processes, which absolved the Commission. Any contrary impression is therefore regrettable.”
Clarity
Mahlangu said the party also sought to clarify comments made by Cibane, saying his remarks were never intended to undermine the credibility of the electoral authority.
“As a youth leader, his engagements were particularly, and typically, robust, but it was never his intention to impugn the credibility of the Commission. The MK party does not in any way seek to suggest that the Commission has overreacted.”
Mahlangu said the party had already taken internal steps to address the matter and had advised Cibane to exercise greater caution in future public engagements.
“Internal measures have already been taken to counsel Comrade Cibane to be more circumspect in the future. He has readily accepted such counsel.”
Settlement
In a strong indication that both sides want to avoid a prolonged legal battle, Mahlangu said an amicable settlement had been reached and that the court proceedings would be abandoned.
“The parties have amicably agreed to let bygones be bygones by withdrawing the court application and the opposition thereto, in the hope that the necessary lessons have been learnt and in the spirit of tolerance for robust debate.”
The agreement ends a dispute that had put the MK party and the IEC on a collision course, with both parties now signalling a commitment to resolve differences through democratic engagement rather than the courts.
Urgent application
The MK party initially lodged an urgent application with the Electoral Court after the 2024 elections, seeking to set aside the results and direct President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim a new election date within 90 days.
It later withdrew the case without giving reasons, but then threatened to continue the matter in the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
Case dismissed
In June 2026, former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party hit back at accusations that its bid to overturn the 2024 election results was an act of a “grumpy loser”.
The party insisted that a two‑hour blackout of the IEC’s live results dashboard may have compromised the integrity of the polls.
In September 2026, the Electoral Court dismissed the MK party’s application to set aside the results of the 2024 national and provincial elections.
The court dismissed the MK party’s case, saying its reasoning and evidence that vote capturing had interfered with the results were ‘not sound’.