(Johannesburg) Former South African President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday that his party would continue to contest the results of the last general elections, which he said were “rigged”.
“The 2024 elections were rigged,” said his MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela, reading a speech on Mr Zuma’s behalf.
“We have instructed our legal team to take all possible steps, both in South Africa and internationally, to ensure that justice is done,” he added.
The 82-year-old former president sat silently with a closed face as his speech was read, occasionally answering questions from reporters.
MK came third in the elections, with 14.6% of the vote and 58 seats in Parliament.
He added that “when the time comes, we will call on our people to peacefully demonstrate their discontent with these injustices, in the streets, in the courts and even in Parliament, until our grievances are taken into account.”
On Friday, MK boycotted the country’s first parliamentary session, in which incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mr Zuma’s long-time political foe, was re-elected.
Mr. Zuma’s party announced that it had filed a legal complaint against these results.
Mr Zuma was expelled from his former party, the African National Congress (ANC) founded by Nelson Mandela, over accusations of corruption, and replaced by Mr Ramaphosa.
The outgoing president, who will be inaugurated on June 19, will lead a government of national unity after the vote held in May failed to produce an incontestable majority.
The national unity government will include the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party and other smaller groups.
