The uMkhonto WeSizwe party confirmed that it had delivered a notice to the court withdrawing its application before the Electoral Court on Wednesday.

Jacob Zuma's breakaway party claimed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) failed to oversee a free and fair election, claiming that votes were rigged in the national and provincial elections. It has been calling for South Africans to take to the ballot again, alleging that 9 million votes were missing since the elections on 29 May.

Its dissatisfaction with the IEC resulted in the party initially boycotting the first sitting in Parliament. MK party members were sworn in later than other parties.

"We initiated the application to challenge the conduct of the Electoral Commission of South Africa to declare the national and provincial election results were in haste and violated the will of the people. We are of the firm view that the election results are not credible, free, nor are they fair.

Our reasons, in part, which we will demonstrate in our pursuit to take the matter further, is the failure by the IEC to perform credible forensic audits of its election system," said party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.

He claimed: 'The withdrawal is in no way an indication that we do not have a compelling case for the orders we seek. As the MK party we are resolute...