The Constitutional Court has directed that should the MK Party (MKP) or former President Jacob Zuma wish to oppose the Electoral Commission’s urgent bid to appeal against the Electoral Court order that allowed him to stand for Parliament, they should file answering affidavits by tomorrow.

The directions are silent on any further steps that could follow the answering affidavits, only saying ‘further directions may be issued’.

As previously reported, the commission urgently applied to the Constitutional Court to appeal the order on 11 April, saying it raised important and new constitutional questions and the commission simply did not have the time to wait for the court’s reasons.

TimesLIVE reports that the order upheld an appeal by the MKP and the former President against the commission’s decision to uphold two objections to the inclusion of Zuma’s name on the party’s list of candidates for the National Assembly.

The objections were due to Zuma having been sentenced to a 15-month prison term without the option of a fine.

In the commission’s application for leave to appeal, its chair Mosotho Moepya said: ‘If this matter is not finalised before (the elections), there is a real risk that the erroneous finding of the Electoral Court will produce a disputed election outcome.’

TimesLIVE notes that Moepya said the commission had asked the Electoral Court to urgently provide reasons but, at the date of his affidavit to the Constitutional Court, none had been given and there was no indication when they would come. The commission was ‘unable to wait for an unknown period’.

The commission was approaching the Constitutional Court ‘not out of disrespect for the Electoral Court, but because there is a pressing matter of national importance that needs to be addressed’.

He added that the appeal was ‘competent because the order has been given’.

The Mail & Guardian reports that yesterday's directive was issued by the office of Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya.

Full TimesLIVE report

Full Mail & Guardian report