South Africa: Mk Party Lawmakers Swear In And Cease Their Boycott

A decade following the formal ceremony, the 58 members of Jacob Zuma’s MK party took an oath of office at the National Assembly.

As a broad national unity government is being created, they have chosen to join the opposition even though they still contest the election results.

Former judge John Hlophe and Duduzile Zuma, the daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, are among President Ramaphosa’s opponents who have now assumed their seats. The MK party promised to preserve the Constitution even though its members wanted to see it abolished. The leader of the opposition, John Hlophe, stressed, “We are not hooligans.”

With 100 seats, the MK is anticipated to form an alliance with Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

This pales in comparison to the governing coalition that is about to emerge, which controls more than two thirds of the 400 seats. A week after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration, the alliance has failed to establish a government, a warning of possible instability that the opposition thinks would precipitate a swift collapse.