THE Independent Electoral Commission’s application to have the Local Government Elections postponed to next year will be heard in the Constitutional Court on Friday.
At least 12 political parties and NGOs have applied to be admitted as friends of the court or intervening parties in the high stakes legal case.
The application will be heard virtually.
The IEC wants the court to declare that holding elections beyond the five-year expiry term of municipal councils is constitutional.
The electoral commission has based its application on the recommendations contained in a report by Dikgang Moseneke, which found that under COVID-19 conditions the municipal elections would not be free and fair if they were held in October this year.
Following the adoption of Moseneke’s report, the IEC launched a bid in the Constitutional Court to have the October 27 polls postponed.
The IFP, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the governing ANC have joined the IEC in its Constitutional Court bid to have the local government elections postponed.
The ANC says that it needs more time for campaigning before the elections take place because its campaign strategy has been hampered by COVID-19.
“We have to take our manifesto to the ground. We have to do it properly and we have to have an assurance that the elections will be free and fair. And that we will not be hampered, by yet another wave of COVID-19,” ANC deputy secretary Jessie Duarte said this week.
In addition to supporting the IEC’s bid to have the elections postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, among other reasons, the EFF wants the ConCourt to order President Cyril Ramaphosa, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) to amend the current regulations or promulgate new Disaster Management Act regulations to allow political gatherings for candidate nomination meetings that will be fully attended by eligible members.
“Such amendments or promulgation would still be subject to other regulatory prescripts, such as social distancing and wearing of masks and any other matters that may be decided by the relevant parties at their discretion,” EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini promised in the party’s application to intervene in the IEC’s application to postpone the elections until February next year.
The DA, on the other hand, said that it would oppose the Constitutional Court application by the IEC because it would create a constitutional crisis.
The party’s leader John Steenhuisen said the DA vehemently opposed the postponement of the local government elections, saying that it was the Constitutional Court’s duty to protect the country’s Constitution, not change it.
The party believes that no court, including the Constitutional Court, has the power to amend or suspend the Constitution because of its superiority.
“Failure by the IEC to do so will leave us no choice but to defend our Constitution and the democratic rights of voters in court,” said Steenhuisen.
“Our Constitution prescribes that Local Government Elections must take place within 90 days of the end of the five-year term of municipal councils. It is the IEC’s job – their only job – to see to it that this happens. Even in a disrupted calendar, there are other steps that can be taken to ensure that this fundamental democratic right is preserved before looking to change the Constitution.”
The DA and other NGOs believe that the Constitutional Court is being asked to rule on something which is beyond its powers.
They believe that the Constitutional Court cannot suspend democracy by waiving the Constitution because of a pandemic for any period of time.
They add that the amendment of the Electoral Act would pose logistical challenges and would require re-training of officials, different balloting and Information and Communications Technology systems, and possibly the introduction of constituency offices and demarcation.
In terms of the law, the commission and the government cannot call for a postponement of elections outside the 90-day window period which ends on November 1.
IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini said the commission’s court application would ask the court to grant the IEC permission to hold the forthcoming local government elections outside the 90-day period.
He said the nature of the relief sought by the Commission is largely predicated on the impossibility to perform a constitutional obligation which is the conduct of constitutionally compliant elections of municipal councils by 1 November 2021, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures that government has instituted to curb the spread of the virus
“Additionally, authorising the Minister of CoGTA to withdraw the notice calling the forthcoming local government elections and setting 27 October 2021 as the date on which they will be held; and issue a fresh notice calling and setting a date before 28 February 2022 for the forthcoming local government elections,” said Mashinini.
While the IEC awaits an outcome from the Constitutional Court, its election calendar has kicked off as normal.
The voters roll will remain closed unless the court grants a postponement.
Political parties currently preparing to submit their nominated candidates for councils by August 23.
Ahead of its Special NEC at the weekend, the ANC said it would meet Monday’s deadline to submit its candidate list to the IEC for the upcoming Local Government Elections.
The DA has confirmed that it would formally announce the party’s mayoral candidates for the upcoming local government elections who will run in a number of South Africa’s major cities.
Steenhuisen will make the announcement of the candidates on Monday and will be joined by the Federal Chairperson of the DA, Dr. Ivan Meyer, the party’s National Spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube, as well as the key mayoral candidates.
- Inside Politics
