Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s MK Party has intensified claims of election fraud in the May 2024 polls, threatening to take the case to international courts after failing in domestic legal challenges. Legal experts, however, say no international court has jurisdiction to hear such electoral disputes.

The MK Party withdrew two previous legal challenges in South African courts – one in the Electoral Court and another in the Constitutional Court seeking to block the National Assembly’s first sitting. Both cases collapsed due to insufficient evidence supporting their claims of electoral misconduct.

Speaking at an MK Party gala dinner in December, Zuma declared his willingness to “sell all my cattle” to fund an international legal challenge, claiming the party’s votes were “stolen” in the election that led to the formation of a Government of National Unity.

International law expert Patrick Lukusa Kadima explains that Zuma’s options for international legal recourse are severely limited. The International Court of Justice only accepts cases between states, while the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction covers only serious international crimes like genocide and war crimes.

Regional African courts also offer no viable path forward. The SADC tribunal was dissolved during Zuma’s own presidency, while other regional courts like the East African Court of Justice and ECOWAS Court lack jurisdiction over South African electoral matters.

The African Court on Human and People’s Rights cannot hear electoral disputes unless they specifically involve interpretation of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, according to Kadima.

These jurisdictional barriers emerge after the MK Party failed to provide evidence supporting their claims in South Africa’s domestic courts, where the Constitutional Court stands as the highest legal authority.