The founder of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, Jabulani Khumalo has described the decision of the Electoral Court as a victory for the party.
Khumalo said they will now focus on the campaign and want Jacob Zuma to be the next president of South Africa.
“On June 1, Zuma will start to prepare to form his Cabinet,” Khumalo told members of the MK party outside the Johannesburg High Court.
This was after the court delivered its judgment on the registration of the party.
Khumalo registered the MK party with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) last year.
The court slammed the African National Congress (ANC) for failing to challenge the registration of the MK party within the required period.
The ANC has been arguing that the process followed to register the MK party was unlawful.
But Khumalo said the decision of the court has cleared the path to contest the elections.
The Electoral Court was supposed to hand judgment on Monday, but it was postponed to Tuesday.
The IEC had argued that there was nothing unlawful about the registration of the MK party.
The ANC faces its toughest election since 1994.
The ANC has had several splits in the last few years. The Congress of the People (Cope) was formed in 2008 after the recall of former president Thabo Mbeki.
When it first started to contest the elections in 2009, Cope had 30 members in Parliament. But divisions rocked the party and this led to a loss of support. Today. Cope has two members in Parliament.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was formed in 2013 after Julius Malema was expelled from the ANC.
When the EFF contested the elections in 2014, it had 25 members in Parliament, and in the 2019 elections it increased its caucus to 44 members.
This will be the first time that the MK party will contest the elections, but it has shown support in KwaZulu-natal and Mpumalanga during recent by-elections.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
IOL Politics