The Constitutional Court has refused to grant the interdict to halt the first sitting of the National Assembly on Friday.
The Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party sought to block the first sitting.
The apex court has found that the decision does not invoke the exclusive jurisdiction as desired by the MK party.
According to the Constitution, the first sitting must take place within 14 days after the declaration of the results at a date and time to be determined by the Chief Justice.
[BREAKING] ConCourt has dismissed the urgent application by the MK party seeking to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly on Friday. The apex court finds that urgency is self-created & that the party has misconstrued the provisions it seeks to rely upon #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/s1kuuJKzkZ
— Zoleka Qodashe (@ZOLEKV_Q) June 12, 2024
The Constitutional Court has found that the applicant failed to invoke its exclusive jurisdiction.
It holds that it is not in the interests of justice to grant direct access as the results were announced between the first and second of June to the knowledge of the applicant.
However, despite this knowledge, the party only launched the application on the 10th of the same month.
Therefore, the court finds that the urgency is self-created.
The court adds that the party has also misconstrued Section 46 of the Constitution which prescribes that the National Assembly consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members.
MK Party loses bid to halt National Assembly first sitting:
