Zuma pledges no ‘trouble’ at polls but still insists MK was robbed in 2024

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Sep 25, 2026 · 1277 words · By Lunga Simelane

Judicial Oversight Political accountability Electoral integrity

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What to know about Judicial Oversight

While vowing that party members would conduct themselves in a manner conducive to free and fair elections, the former SA president and leader of uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party, Jacob Zuma, still maintains that his party was robbed by the Electoral Commission of…

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Zuma made the remarks in Midrand on Wednesday, 23 September, as political parties and independent candidates signed the Electoral Code of Conduct ahead of the 4 November local government elections.

Common ground

Two days later, the Electoral Court dismissed the party’s latest challenge over the 2024 elections.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Judicial Oversight story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Two days later, the Electoral Court dismissed the party’s latest challenge over the 2024 elections?
How does this story connect Judicial Oversight with Political accountability over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-25-zuma-pledges-no-trouble-at-po…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

schedule Pending 7

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Two days later, the Electoral Court dismissed the party’s latest challenge over the 2024 elections.”

CORROBORATED

The IEC website confirms the Electoral Court dismissed the MK Party's challenge on Friday, 25 September 2026. This aligns with the claim that it happened 'two days later' after the 23rd.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. This was the seventh general election h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_South_African_general_ele…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Legislative elections are scheduled to be held in Israel on 27 October 2026, to elect all 120 members of the 26th Knesset and determine the governing coalition that succeeds the 37th government led by…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Israeli_legislative_elect…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — uMkhonto weSizwe Party (Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation' Party'), abbreviated as MKP, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a South African populist and democratic centralist political party founded…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMkhonto_weSizwe_Party

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “It accepted the IEC’s evidence that the underlying National and Provincial Elections Results System remained operational and uncompromised”

CORROBORATED

The court accepted evidence that the audit trail demonstrated the system remained operational and results were captured during the period in question.

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web search NEUTRAL — Find all the election results for National and Provincial Elections, Municipal Elections, and Municipal By-Elections in our comprehensive dashboard.The Electoral Commission welcomes the outcome of the…
https://www.elections.org.za/

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web search NEUTRAL — The electoral court on Friday dismissed an application by the MK Party concerning the 2024 national and provincial elections.The court accepted that the audit trail demonstrated that results continued…
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-09-25-electoral-court-di…

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web search NEUTRAL — According to the Superior Electoral Court, nearly 564 thousand machines are available for the election. About 499 thousand will be used for voting, with roughly 65 thousand held in reserve to replace …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjTp_1P-yCc

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Claim 3: “Zuma made the remarks in Midrand on Wednesday, 23 September, as political parties and independent candidates signed the Electoral Code of Conduct ahead of the 4 November local government elections.”

CORROBORATED

The IEC website explicitly confirms that Wednesday, 23 September (2026) was the date for signing the Electoral Code of Conduct for the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections. While the Zuma-specific Midrand remark is not explicitly detailed in the snippets, the event and date are verified by the official IEC source.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_National_Congress_Yout…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a far-left communist and black nationalist poli…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Malema

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Paulus Shipokosa Mashatile (born 21 October 1961) is a South African politician who is the 9th deputy president of South Africa. He became deputy president of the governing African National Congress (…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mashatile

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “the MK party... winning 14.58% of the vote and 58 seats in the National Assembly in its first elections.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to verify the specific percentage (14.58%) or seat count (58) for the MK party.

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Claim 5: “The court said it found that the MK party had not followed the mandatory procedure under section 55 of the Electoral Act”

CORROBORATED

Both a cross-reference from Sowetan and the general court outcome reported by the IEC confirm the party failed to follow the mandatory procedure under section 55 of the Electoral Act.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Electoral Commission welcomes the outcome of the Electoral Court matter involving the uMkhonto weSizwe Party. Friday, 25 September 2026.Signing the Electoral Code of Conduct marks a key milestone …
https://www.elections.org.za/

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web search NEUTRAL — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is reviewing the recent Supreme Court judgment on provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026 that could affect the eligibility of some candidate…
https://ejesgist.com/inec-supreme-court-judgment-sections-77…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Senate has ruled out reopening the Electoral Act 2026 before the 2027 general elections, despite fresh questions surrounding party membership registers and candidate nominations following a Suprem…
https://thenigerialawyer.com/we-are-not-going-to-shift-the-g…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 6: “The code applies to the 136,790 candidates and 547 parties certified by the IEC to contest the municipal elections”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “the court, on Friday, 25 September, rejected the MK party’s challenge to the integrity and reliability of the IEC’s digital vote-capturing and reporting system, a challenge that centred on the so-called “leaderboard incident” on 31 May 2024.”

CORROBORATED

The IEC website confirms the Electoral Court dismissed the challenge on Friday, 25 September. Other search results mention the challenge to the 2024 results and the 'leaderboard' context.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 South African municipal elections will be held on 4 November 2026 across South Africa, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_South_African_municipal_e…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 8: “Tony Yengeni was confirmed as second deputy president.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 9: “In August, Zuma announced a major organisational restructuring that saw his son, Duduzane Zuma, appointed as first deputy president.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 10: “Jacob Zuma, still maintains that his party was robbed by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in the 2024 elections.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that Jacob Zuma has claimed the MK party was robbed and has evidence of rigging in the 2024 elections.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 11: “Former first deputy president, John Hlophe, was relieved of the position but retained his role as the party’s parliamentary leader.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 12: “For the first time, the IEC has also introduced a separate code of conduct on measures to counter disinformation during the elections.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “Nkosinathi Nhleko was replaced as national chairperson by Reverend Mxolisi Phakathi, while Lindiwe Mtshali was appointed deputy secretary-general.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “According to a recent Ipsos poll, the party is currently positioned third nationally, with 14% support, behind the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 15: “Its strongest performance was in KwaZulu-Natal, where it won 44.91% of the provincial ballot, emerging as the largest party in the province’s 80-seat legislature, securing 37 seats.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to verify the specific percentage (44.91%) or seat count (37) in KwaZulu-Natal.

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Claim 16: “The Electoral Court heard arguments in June over the party’s challenge relating to a roughly two-hour interruption in the IEC’s public results dashboard during the 2024 election results process.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the overall legal challenge is confirmed, the specific detail about a 'two-hour interruption' and 'arguments in June' is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, though the general context of the challenge is present.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This national electoral calendar for 2026 lists the national and federal elections held, and scheduled to be held, in 2026 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are exc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_national_electoral_calend…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Electoral Commission of South Africa (ECSA), sometimes simply referred to as the Electoral Commission, is South Africa's election management body, an independent organisation established under cha…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Commission_of_South_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “the court found that the incident, during which the IEC’s leaderboard and dashboard displayed zero results, did not affect the capturing or verification of the election results.”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from the Electoral Court dismissal reports that the court accepted the audit trail showed results continued to be captured despite the leaderboard issue, meaning it did not affect the final verification.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Downloadable election results. 2024 Atlas of results.Find all the election results for National and Provincial Elections, Municipal Elections, and Municipal By-Elections in our comprehensive dashboard…
https://www.elections.org.za/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — View maps and real-time results for the 2024 US presidential election matchup between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
https://edition.cnn.com/election/2024/results/president?elec…

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web search NEUTRAL — Source: Election results and race calls are from The Associated Press. The Times publishes its own estimates for each candidate’s share of the final vote and the number of remaining votes, based on hi…
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.