THE Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) remained adamant on Wednesday that government must postpone the 2021 local government elections to 2024 due to an increase in COVID-19 infections and teh dangers of a Third Wave.
This is despite the launch of the 2021 local government elections mobilization campaign on Wednesday by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
The local government elections are set to take place on 27 October 2021.
However, both the IFP and EFF called on the cabinet to postpone the elections due concerns of a surge in COVID-19 infections and the danger of a third wave.
On Wednesday, the EFF declined an invitation of the IEC to attend the launch of the 2021 local government elections.
The EFF accused the IEC of being “uncaring and selfish.”
The red berets also questioned the motives of the IEC to press on with the elections, saying it is assisting the ruling elite to “sustain power through malicious and unethical means.”
“The IEC is intentionally undermining the constitutional right to life of all South Africans by insisting on convening the 2021 local government elections without believable and proper mechanisms to prevent the spread of the dreaded coronavirus in light of the third wave,” the EFF said in a statement.
The IFP said the upcoming local government elections must be postponed, saying it would be too risky given the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We simply cannot risk plunging the country deeper into crisis. If infection rates soar, a harder lockdown will be inevitable, and the consequences for our economy could be irreparable. This is why the IFP has been calling for the postponement of these elections,” IFP president Velenkosi Hlabisa said on Tuesday.
At the launch of the mobilization campaign, IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini acknowledged that preparing for the fifth municipal elections during the Covid-19 pandemic has presented the IEC with one of the most difficult balancing acts.
“The commission is walking a tightrope. On one side is the tyranny of the elections becoming a super-spreader event, leading to further loss of human life,” said Mashinini.
“On the other side is the tyranny of the failure to adhere to the dictates of our constitution, leading to democratic backsliding and setting an undesirable precedent for the future.”
Mashinini said he was aware of the EFF and the IFP’s opposition of holding the minicipal polls in October, including ActionSA intention to legally challenge any attempt by the EFF to amend the Constitution and postpone the Local Government Elections to 2024
“We are aware of the Action SA legal threat. We believe that their contentions and allegations of impartiality on the part of the Electoral Commission are unfounded and devoid of merit,” said Mashini.
Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the local government elections would take place on October 27.
The announcement followed extensive consultations with the electoral commission and Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
It is anticipated that Dlamini-Zuma will make an official proclamation on the elections in August.
Meanwhile, former Deputy Chief Justice, Dikgang Moseneke, is set to appoint members of a panel that will form part of a review committee to assess whether or not, the current conditions are conducive for the 2021 Local Government Elections.
The Independent Electoral Commission announced that it has tasked Justice Moseneke to undertake an urgent evaluation of whether free and fair elections could be held or should be postponed to a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is expected to submit a report on his findings to the IEC in July
- Inside Politics
