MK Party's NCOP delegates sworn in

While the MK Party's MPs were a no-show for the swearing-in ceremony in the National Assembly on Friday, their National Council of Provinces counterparts took their oath of office on Saturday.

The MK Party’s Edward Nzimande from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal’s Zamathembu Ngcobo, Seeng Mmabatho Mokoena and Jerome Majola and Sifiso Zulu (Mpumalanga) were among the 54 permanent delegates of the NCOP who were sworn-in by chief justice Raymond Zondo during that house’s first sitting.

The party announced earlier in the week that its 58 MPs would not attend the first sitting of the National Assembly, believing this would deny the assembly a quorum to meet and elect a president and the speaker.

The party was hoping to interdict the National Assembly sitting until its grievances about alleged election irregularities were resolved.

Writing to the secretary to parliament last weekend, MK Party's lawyers said their clients intended to challenge the validity of the declaration of the results by the IEC pursuant to which the list of people nominated for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures were compiled.

While the party said its National Assembly members would boycott the first sitting of that house, it was silent about the attendance of the NCOP delegates, who are also elected based on the same election outcomes the MK Party is disputing.

The party has five members out of the upper house’s 54 permanent delegates.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court dismissed its application to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly.

The court's order, given without a hearing, said the decisions at issue in the case were not matters for the Constitutional Court's exclusive jurisdiction and it was not in the interests of justice to allow the MK Party direct access to the highest court. 

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