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The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party said on Monday it has directed its attorneys to urgently seek an interdict from the Constitutional Court to postpone the first sittings of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, and to interdict the swearing in of party nominated candidates as members of the National Assembly until its grievances are thoroughly addressed by the courts.

Parliament is due to hold its first sittings, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The MK Party intends approaching the court, seeking that the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) set aside the 2024 election results.

The party alleged there were incidents of voter rigging in the May 29 general elections, where the party secured 45 seats in the KZN Legislature and 58 in the National Assembly.

The MK Party said that legally, the absence of MK Party members from Parliament will prevent achieving the composition of the 350 members required to lawfully constitute the National Assembly, saying this will further invalidate the session which aims to appoint a President and the government of the country.

The MK Party highlighted that despite the party's objections as submitted to the IEC, Parliament's response disregarded the party's request by spearheading an agenda to proceed regardless of such concerns which it says are "serious" in nature.

On Friday the MK Party's legal representatives issued a formal demand to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and the Secretary to Parliament Xolile George, arguing that unresolved objections by MK Party and other political parties who represent the will of the people, render this a "market-based" declaration, and consequently the sitting and all its activities unconstitutional.

"…we are compelled to express grave concerns about the Secretary of Parliament, but most crucially the Chief Justice for their premature statement or judgments regarding issues related to the matter at hand, knowing that the matter may end up in court," said the party.

MK Party said it was concerned that "such types of prejudicial statements and pronouncements" could compromise the impartiality required if this matter ends up in court.

"Sadly, such conduct, which continues unabated especially by the Chief Justice, further undermines public confidence in essential State institutions, including Parliament and the judiciary as a whole," it averred.

Parliament stressed on Monday that it is legally bound to facilitate the first sitting of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) at a date and time determined by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, noting that there are no legal impediments preventing this process.

This after the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party said it had directed its attorneys to urgently seek an interdict from the Constitutional Court to postpone the first sittings of the NA and NCOP, and to interdict the swearing in of party-nominated candidates as members of the NA until its grievances were thoroughly addressed by the courts.

The MK Party is heading to court to present evidence that the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) rigged the elections to the detriment of the MK Party and other parties.

Last week, the party also indicated that its 58 elected members, who were expected to occupy seats in the NA, would boycott and not attend the first sitting.

The MK Party is protesting the scheduling of the first sitting of the NA, claiming it would not be constitutional.

"According to Section 49(3) of the Constitution, unless and until the results of the election are set aside by a court, Parliament must ensure that the sittings proceed as directed," Parliament said.

It explained that because the first sittings of the NA and NCOP would take place physically, the Parliamentary Administration was in the process of making arrangements to provide travel and accommodation for all members listed by the IEC, as handed over by Zondo, to attend these sittings and the associated onboarding activities scheduled in Cape Town.

It added that in light of the MK Party's decision to not to attend the first sitting, Parliament has cancelled all arrangements for accommodation and flights for the party's elected members.

Parliament said that this measure was to avoid incurring "fruitless and wasteful expenditure", in compliance with the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, 2009.

The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party highlighted on Friday that its position remains unchanged and that the party will attend Parliament proceedings only based on the outcome of its court proceedings.

Parliament is due to hold its first sittings of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The party is heading to court to present evidence that the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) rigged the elections to the detriment of the MK Party and other parties.

The party said it noted with concern some "mischievous" media reports suggesting that it has changed its stance regarding its decision not to attend Parliament owing to alleged election rigging by the IEC.

The MK Party said it will only consider entering Parliament once its urgent court application is concluded.

The party threatened to order the party's MPs to collapse Parliament and the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature if its demand for a recount of election ballots is not met.

The MK Party alleged there were incidents of voter rigging in the May 29 general elections, where the party secured 45 seats in the KZN Legislature and 58 in the National Assembly.

While addressing supporters, former President Jacob Zuma claimed that IEC officials took MK votes and gave them to other political parties.

"We wish to reiterate that our position remains unchanged and that we will attend Parliament proceedings only based on the outcome of the court proceedings," said the MK Party.

Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Maropene Ramokgopa will act as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture following Zizi Kodwa's resignation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Ramokgopa's appointment on Friday, noting that she will stay on until a permanent appointment is made in the seventh administration.

Kodwa appeared in court, this week, over corruption charges, following evidence from the Zondo commission of enquiry, which pointed to him receiving a R1.7-million bribe from an executive of a local technology company, which received government tenders.

Kodwa has "strongly" denied the allegations and has been granted bail.

Ramaphosa acknowledged Kodwa's resignation and thanked him for "his service to the nation in his capacity as Deputy Minister of State Security from 2019 to 2023 and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture from March 2023".

South African opposition parties said on Friday they were waiting for more details on a proposal by the African National Congress (ANC) to form a government of national unity after it lost its majority for the first time in the democratic era.

The former anti-apartheid liberation movement once led by Nelson Mandela has run South Africa since 1994. But voters, angered by years of economic stagnation, high unemployment and corruption, punished it at the ballot box on May 29.

It remains the biggest party. But the lack of an outright majority means it must now share power - and President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday the ANC leadership had decided that a broad collaboration was the best way forward for South Africa.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the largest opposition party, said it was open to talks and was "committed to the process".

"But the broad invitation to all parties ... rather than limiting it to parties committed to our current constitutional dispensation, the rule of law and a social-market economy, has undoubtedly complicated matters," spokesperson Werner Horn said.

"Our negotiation team will ... have further meetings with other parties to listen to their views and reaction," Horn added.

The ANC will have 159 of the 400 seats in the new National Assembly. Its nearest rivals are the pro-business, white-led DA, with 87 seats; the populist uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) led by former President Jacob Zuma, with 58; and the hard-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 39.

Ramaphosa said the ANC had already held constructive discussions with the EFF and DA, as well as with the smaller Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the National Freedom Party and the Patriotic Alliance.

Zuma's MK said it expected to meet with the ANC soon.

During the election campaign, the DA had called any potential ANC tie-up with the EFF or MK a "doomsday coalition" that would tank the economy. Both smaller parties advocate nationalising mines and seizing land without compensation.

The EFF said it would not be part of a government involving the DA.

"We are not desperate for positions in government," its deputy leader Floyd Shivambu told a press conference.

The socially conservative IFP, which has its power base among South Africa's Zulu people, said it was not averse to the proposal of a national unity government.

"However, the devil is in the details, which will become clearer in the coming days," it said in a statement.

The powerful Cosatu trade union group, a major ANC ally, said it would engage with the ANC and another backer Communist Party in the coming days, including on the various "permutations and modalities" that would need to be in such a government.

The new parliament has to convene within two weeks of Sunday's results declaration and one of its first acts must be to elect the president.

The constitutional deadline, which will fall on or near June 16, is putting pressure on the ANC and others to reach an agreement quickly.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) said it is against the African National Congress (ANC) seeking a coalition arrangement with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party, citing apartheid oppression and State capture corruption, respectively.

Having won only 40% of the vote in the 2024 national elections, the ANC needs to find a coalition partner to secure a majority in Parliament which will support its choice of President and legislative plans.

The SACP highlighted that to maintain strategic consistency, it is against seeking a coalition arrangement with the "right-wing, DA-led anti-ANC neo-liberal forces".

"The core of the DA-led neo-liberal forces, highly supported by dominant sections of capital, mainly the white bourgeoisie whose roots can be traced to the era of colonial and apartheid oppression of the black majority, organised itself into the so-called multi-party charter. This grouping also received support from western foundations," the SACP said.

"…neo-liberal economic restructuring, which includes retrenchments - those announced during the May 2024 election campaign period in the mining and other sectors included, opposition to the national minimum wage, attacks of our collective bargaining framework and resistance to National Health Insurance, among others, has severely impacted the workers and impoverished populations of our country. These forces remain arrogant and anti-working class as evidenced in the DA's reckless utterances," said the SACP.

It also explained that it was against seeking a coalition arrangement with the MK Party, whose origins, it said, can be traced back to "factionalism, the corruption of State capture and resistance to accountability", as outlined in the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture report and Constitutional Court judgments.

It pointed out that the industrial-scale looting under State capture crippled many of the country's State-owned companies, public entities and financial resources, which the SACP said negatively impacted the capacity of the State to serve the people.

The ANC's alliance partner noted that the "factional conduct" and "ethnic nationalism" of those driving the MK Party had negatively impacted the ANC-led movement, and the ANC's electoral performance.

"…the votes and number of seats from the May 2024 national and provincial government elections offer coalition permutations with the features of a developmental and transformation purpose-driven ANC-led government of National Unity - excluding both the DA and the MKP," said the SACP.

On Wednesday the ANC highlighted that it was keen and determined to engage all political parties and unite the broadest range of sectors of the country's population behind the urgent need to move the country out of the current potential electoral stalemate.

The party noted that it had held engagements with delegations from the Inkatha Freedom Party, Economic Freedom Fighters, DA, the National Freedom Party and the Patriotic Alliance, and that it had repeatedly reached out to the MK Party, for an engagement meeting, with no positive response.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri revealed the ANC was still awaiting the MK Party's response.

"The strategic adversaries of the working class include the neo-liberal and 'looting' class networks, as well as fugitives from justice who have profited from State capture and fled South Africa to evade accountability," the SACP said.

It said intensifying efforts to track down and hold accountable those who were involved in and benefitted from the proceeds of State capture corruption and fraud must be a central component of the programmatic basis of the coalition arrangements that the ANC should pursue.

"In pursuing the ideal scenario under the circumstances and in the interests of the working class, the SACP will prioritise governance stability over the instability often associated with local government coalitions," it explained.

Spain has requested to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

Spain joins a small number of other countries that have said they wish to intervene including Ireland, which along with Spain and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state last week.

Albares said Madrid wanted to support the ICJ in its implementation of measures including an order to Israel to cease its military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, but gave few details of what its requested intervention would entail.

"We are doing it (requesting to intervene) because of our commitment to international law, in our desire to support the court in its work and strengthen the United Nations, supporting the role of the court as the maximum legal entity in the system," he told a press conference in Madrid.

"We want to support the court in the implementation of the precautionary measures, in particular the cessation of military operations in Rafah in order to restore peace, the cessation of obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid and the cessation of the destruction of civilian infrastructure."

The ICJ is the highest United Nations legal body, established in 1945 to deal with disputes between states.

The ICJ judges' order to Israel last month to immediately halt its military assault on Rafah was a landmark emergency ruling following South Africa's decision to bring a case against Israel accusing it of genocide.

Israel has repeatedly dismissed the case's accusations of genocide as baseless, arguing in court that its operations in Gaza are self-defence and targeted at Hamas militants who attacked Israel on October 7. It says it is trying to root out Hamas fighters in Rafah.

ActionSA announced on Thursday that it is officially out of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), citing a "serious breach" by other political parties who it said publicly signed and campaigned under an agreement that expressly ruled out working relationships with the African National Congress (ANC).

Following the May 29 national and provincial elections, the ANC lost its majority in Parliament. It received only 40.18% of the national vote while also losing its provincial majority in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Northern Cape.

The ANC has begun coalition engagements with other political parties, including the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party, both of which are part of the MPC.

Updating the media on the outcomes of a two-day ActionSA Senate meeting, party spokesperson Michael Beaumont highlighted that it had assessed a potential Parliament in which the opposition formed a coalition with the ANC and had determined that ActionSA was going to have to be the unofficial opposition in Parliament.

"…this is why ActionSA has announced that its president and national chairperson step back to allow for a team that will punch above its weight and serve South Africans like a much larger team," said Beaumont.

He noted that it was similarly resolved that ActionSA would continue to honour its commitment to be an alternative to the ANC.

"As such, ActionSA will not entertain any working relationship with the ANC at any level of government. This is after ActionSA, early last year, conducted an online public participation process with our members, structures and ordinary South Africans that urged us to participate in the MPC and emphatically resolved that we reaffirm our commitment to being an alternative to the ANC," said ActionSA.

Beaumont explained that ActionSA would remain in the City of Tshwane government in its current configuration, however the party is prepared to vacate that government and be a constructive opposition should the politics of the day return the ANC to the Capital.

Going forward, the party highlighted that it would operate as a constructive opposition in the National Assembly and the three legislatures where it is represented.

"…if sound and ethical proposals are placed before our representatives that serve the South African people, we will support those proposals unreservedly. Similarly, when accountability is required, ActionSA will be the hardest when it comes to holding a government to account when the opposition is conflicted," he said.

Beaumont noted that ActionSA would enter an era where it would "stand alone, unencumbered by political relationships", and will focus on the most credible alternatives for South Africans.

"It is important to stress that ActionSA has only begun its process of positioning itself ahead of the local government election in 2026. Notwithstanding the current focus on national and provincial politics, the ActionSA Senate has orientated itself around the fact that most South Africans suffer most greatly because of municipal failures that leave them without water, unreliable electricity and submerged in sewage," the party said.

Fresh off the results of the 2024 national elections, ActionSA is setting its sights on the 2026 local government elections, ahead of which it is focusing on party growth.

Party leader Herman Mashaba and spokesperson Michael Beaumont said they will entrust a team to represent the party in Parliament while they focus on growth of the party ahead of the 2026 elections.

ActionSA, which garnered six Parliamentary seats, said its Senate had met to discuss its effectiveness as South Africa is set to be led by a coalition government for the first time, nationally.

"As a component of these deliberations, ActionSA has assembled a team with a wealth of experience in critical areas such as community development, health, governance, finance, and economic development who will be representing ActionSA in the National Assembly. We are confident that this team will ensure that our policies, developed through an expert-led process, find expression in the work of legislating over the coming five-year term, ensuring that the voices, needs, and cries of ordinary South Africans feature prominently throughout Parliament," the party said on Wednesday.

It said it needed to "step up" to become an opposition party as the ANC entered coalition talks with the Democratic Alliance and other parties.

"This will require every ActionSA member of Parliament to serve on many committees and to work tirelessly to hold government to account. With the experience of members such as Athol Trollip, as a former leader of the official opposition in Parliament, we are confident our caucus in the National Assembly will be effectively led," the party said.

Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa has announced his resignation, hours after he appeared in court over corruption charges.

Evidence from the Zondo commission of enquiry points to Kodwa receiving a R1.7-million bribe from an executive of a local technology company, which received government tenders.

Kodwa has "strongly" denied the allegations after being arrested. He has been granted bail.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kodwa said he had informed President Cyril Ramaphosa of his resignation while thanking him and the African National Congress for allowing him to serve.

"He also takes the opportunity to express thanks to all the staff at the Ministry and Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for the opportunity to serve with them, and to all stakeholders in Sport, Arts and Culture, with whom he has worked so well with as Minister," said a statement from the Office of the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture.