The 58 MPs from Jacob Zuma’s MK party have taken their oaths in the National Assembly, a full ten days after the official ceremony.
Despite their ongoing dispute over the election results, they have chosen to join the opposition amid the formation of a broad national unity government.
Prominent opponents of President Ramaphosa, such as Duduzile Zuma, daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, and former judge John Hlophe, have now assumed their seats. Despite the MK party’s stance on abolishing the Constitution, its MPs pledged to uphold it. John Hlophe, now the opposition leader, stressed, “We are not troublemakers.”
The MK party is expected to align with Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), totaling 100 seats.
While this is a minority compared to the government coalition, which commands over two-thirds of the 400 seats, the coalition has yet to finalize the formation of a government a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration. This delay hints at potential instability that the opposition hopes might hasten a collapse.
