South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has said his political party – uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) – will join the opposition alliance in parliament.
He said it would coordinate resistance against the ruling coalition led by the African National Congress (ANC).
Despite this, MK said it maintained that last month’s election was rigged and wanted the results annulled.
Zuma’s speech on Sunday was read out by Knesset spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela, who said the ANC was no longer part of the solution.
Mr Zuma said there is no national unity government in South Africa and described the partnership as a “white-led, unholy alliance between the DA and Ramaphosa’s ANC”.
The ANC lost its outright majority for the first time since the end of apartheid and struck a power-sharing deal with the Democratic Alliance (DA) this weekend.
Several smaller parties have also joined what the ANC calls a national unity government. Their MPs on Friday re-elected ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term as president.
Mr Zuma also confirmed on Sunday that MK had filed a lawsuit demanding that the election results be annulled and a new vote be held.
Zuma told his supporters to “submit or fight back” through peaceful means.
“We will fight to win back our country from the enemies of progress,” he said.
There were fears that Mr Zuma’s stance would lead to violence among his supporters, which led to deadly riots in July 2021 when he was jailed for refusing to testify in a public inquiry into corruption during his government.
Police reinforcements have been sent to his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma, 82, said his party would soon go to parliament after boycotting Friday’s first session.
The newly formed Knesset member did surprisingly well in the elections. It became the third largest party in the country and received a large share of the ANC’s votes.
It won 12% of the vote and 58 seats in parliament.
Mr Zuma said the MK would become part of the official opposition, joining a group of small parties calling themselves the Progressive Caucus.
The caucus, which collectively controls almost a third of the seats, includes the radical Economic Freedom Fighters and the center-left United Democratic Movement.
Zuma was an ANC veteran but fell out with the party after he was forced to resign as president in 2018 over corruption scandals. He has always denied any wrongdoing.
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