2024 elections | Ruling expected on Zuma-IEC matter

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JOHANNESBURG – A ruling is expected on the MK Party’s bid to get former President Jacob Zuma to Parliament.
The IEC had barred him from standing for elections due to his criminal record for contempt of court.
Electoral Commission lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi says that if the court rules for the MK Party, it will be a mockery of the Constitution.
WATCH: DISCUSSION | ZUMA BARRED FROM RUNNING IN ELECTIONS
On Monday, the 81-year-old was in court in Johannesburg as lawyers debated the case.
“If the masses want me to be president, what’s going to stop them?” a cheery Zuma told supporters, after the hearing. “Allow me to go and finish what I started.”
In March, the electoral commission said the constitution bars anyone convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment from running from office.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.
READ: ZUMA SAYS IEC SHOULD PREPARE THE ELECTIONS AND STAY OUT OF POLITICS
But his lawyers have argued that the sentence does not disqualify him as it followed civil rather than criminal proceedings.
Lawyer Dali Mpofu, representing Zuma, also told the court on Monday that since his client had benefited from a remission, his sentence was really only three months long.
“We are dealing with someone who is a convict,” retorted lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi for the electoral commission.