NFP vows to continue fight ahead of election
The National Freedom Party (NFP) has vowed to fight its disqualification up until the Local Government Election on 3 August.
This comes after the announcement by the Electoral Court to hear the NFP's matter on 29 July.
The NFP has taken the matter back to the Electoral Court following the Independent Electoral Commission's decision to stand by its earlier pronouncement to disqualify the party for failing to pay the prescribed deposit before the deadline.
"The fight is still on. We will neither give up nor surrender. This battle continues until the last hour of the election day. We don't want our members and supporters to lose hope because of the date we have been given by the court. They must not despair as we view this as a blessing in disguise," the NFP said in statement.
The party said the court gave the date, because so many parties showed interest.
According to the NFP, NGO's, traditional leaders, civic organisations and church-based organizations were fully behind it and needed enough time to prepare as some will be sending their lawyers to court in support.
"As the leadership of the NFP, we still maintain and believe that we will contest the August 3 elections. It is for this reason we make a plea to our members to exercise restraint and not do anything that might jeopardize our chances. Our legal team has prepared well and with the new evidence that we will present in court, we strongly believe that we will participate and fiercely contest the elections," said NFP Acting National Chairperson, Bheki Gumbi.