MK party forced to cancel pickets over Electoral Court case

MK party forced to cancel pickets over Electoral Court case

The Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in eThekwini has cancelled its planned picketing outside the court in eThekwini on Tuesday.

The party had called on its supporters to gather outside the different courts in eThekwini to hold a picket to show their support for the party amid proceedings in the Electoral Court on Tuesday in Bloemfontein.

The ANC has challenged the registration of the MK party by the Electoral Commission of SA in the Electoral Court.

The governing party wants the court to declare the registration of the MK party unlawful and invalid.

The party had arranged for its members in eThekwini who could not attend the court proceedings in Bloemfontein to show their support and gather outside the courts in the eThekwini region.

Regional co-ordinator for the MK party Musa Mkhize said they had arranged with the SAPS and the metro police to monitor their pickets, but had to cancel.

He said the party had heard that an instruction had been given for the police “to deal with them”.

“We have had to protect the MK members and South Africans by cancelling, as the party leadership. We have sources on the ground and they have alerted us that certain SAPS units would deal with us,” he said.

He said the court case brought by the ANC was unnecessary, and that it is taxpayers’ money being wasted on these proceedings.

“This is one of the ANC’s delay tactics but we remain unshaken. Whatever they decide, we remain steadfast and we have confidence in the Constitution of South Africa,” said Mkhize.

The SAPS’s national spokesperson could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

The Mercury