South Africa's recently formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is striving to secure a legislative majority in the upcoming elections, the country's ex-president and MK leader Jacob Zuma said on Saturday, addressing thousands of supporters at the launch of the party's election manifesto.
This majority, he said, would enable the party to enact changes unopposed by its adversaries.
"We want to get an outright victory because if we don't get the two-thirds (majority), the opposition may oppose us," Zuma said in Zulu, as translated by the media.
However, an Ipsos opinion survey, published in April, indicated that MK would win 8.4% of the vote, well below the party's target of 66%. At the same time, if the polls are accurate, the ruling African National Congress might lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela's victory in 1994.
Furthermore, speaking at the 37,000-capacity Orlando Stadium in Soweto, the largest township in South Africa, Zuma pledged to combat corruption, generate employment, and offer free education to children from impoverished backgrounds.
He explained to the gathering that other political officials did not care about improving people's lives; therefore, he had no choice but to stay in politics.
"It can't be that at this age we are still fighting criminals to remove them from government because they are criminals. We should be resting and playing with our grandkids," Zuma was translated as saying.
The top court of South Africa heard legal arguments regarding the ex-president's eligibility to run for parliament last week. However, it has not specified when its ruling will be issued.
The dispute arose from South Africa's electoral commission's March decision to disqualify Zuma on the grounds that the constitution forbids anybody who has served a 12-month or longer jail term from being elected to parliament. Zuma was given a 15-month prison sentence in 2021 for his noncompliance with a corruption investigation.
The ex-president is also facing trial next year for his alleged involvement in the corrupt procurement of weapons for the country in 1999.