South Africa’s Electoral Court has dismissed a legal challenge brought by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) over the integrity of the country’s 2024 national and provincial election results.

The case centred on a technical incident at the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results centre on May 31, 2024, when the public-facing results dashboard and leaderboard went blank for approximately two hours during the vote-counting period. The MK Party argued that the incident raised questions about the reliability of the electronic system used to capture and report election results.

The party had alleged that the interruption could have created an opportunity for interference with the results and questioned whether the final figures accurately reflected votes cast during the election. The IEC rejected those allegations, maintaining that the public display problem did not affect the underlying vote-capturing, verification and results-processing systems.

In its judgment, the Electoral Court found that the MK Party had not followed the mandatory procedure required under Section 55 of South Africa’s Electoral Act for challenging the election results. The court therefore concluded that the application seeking a review of the declaration of results was not legally competent.

The court also considered the technical evidence surrounding the dashboard incident. According to the judgment, the audit trail showed that election results continued to be captured and edited during the period when the public-facing display was unavailable. The court accepted evidence indicating that no election data was lost and that the incident did not affect the capturing or verification of the results.

The MK Party had based much of its argument on the sudden disappearance of results from the public dashboard. Its position was that the incident created doubts about the integrity of the electoral system. The IEC, however, maintained that its core results infrastructure remained operational throughout the episode.

The court ultimately accepted the commission’s evidence concerning the operation of the system and found that the MK Party’s case relied on inferences that were not supported by sufficient evidence. The judgment therefore leaves the officially declared 2024 election results unchanged.

The ruling comes only weeks before South Africa’s scheduled local government elections on November 4, 2026. The IEC has said that the judgment provides clarity allowing it to proceed with the independent and external audit of the results system that will be used for the upcoming municipal elections.

The commission has also said political parties will be given access to the electoral system between October 5 and October 12 to allow their technical representatives to identify potential problems and raise issues before election day. This process is intended to provide parties with an opportunity to examine the system ahead of the vote.

The case has attracted political attention because the MK Party is one of the parties preparing to contest the forthcoming local government elections. The dispute over the 2024 results had remained an important issue in the party’s relationship with the electoral commission.

The court ruling does not prevent political parties from scrutinising electoral technology or raising concerns through the procedures established by law. Instead, the judgment addresses the particular legal challenge brought by the MK Party and the evidence presented in that case.

With the municipal elections approaching, attention is now expected to shift toward the preparation and testing of the electoral infrastructure. The IEC has indicated that it will continue with its audit process and provide parties with an opportunity to examine the system before polling day.

The latest judgment therefore closes the court challenge concerning the 2024 results while leaving the IEC to concentrate on preparations for the next nationwide local government vote.