Barring Zuma from elections infringes on his rights, court hears
The uMkhonto weSizwe party’s bid to overturn the IEC’s decision to bar Jacob Zuma from standing as a candidate in the upcoming general elections got underway in the Electoral Court on Monday.
The MK Party's legal counsel, Advocate Dali Mpofu, told the court the exclusion of the former president from the elections would disadvantage him and his followers.
The IEC explained that Zuma is ineligible to stand due to his prison sentence.
Mpofu argued the party's supporters would be deprived of their right to vote for a candidate of their choice.
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He told the court two rights had been infringed by the IEC's decision to disqualify Zuma.
"The issue of bias, conviction for an offence. The attitude of the electoral commission in this matter is, 'Let’s see where we can catch him’, and when we do catch him, let's make sure that he does not come out alive.
"That cannot be the attitude of a South African institution."
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