Johnathan Paoli
The ANC, electoral experts and former members of the IEC have called on the commission to take firm action against the DA for requesting the involvement of western governments in the country’s general elections.
Over the weekend the DA shocked many South Africans by penning a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for independent domestic observers, including capacitating civil organisations.
The DA’s unusual request seems to be insinuating that the coming 2024 National Government Elections would not be fair unless monitored by the USA. Whereas the IEC has a good track record of ensuring that elections are free and fair in South Africa.
Former IEC commissioner Terry Tselane has called on the commission to take firm action against the DA and said the party was not only undermining the country’s sovereignty but weighing up its long track record of free and fair elections against the US, which have recently come under question following allegations of voter suppression.
Tselane said the DA’s request is simply shocking, and directly interfered with the commission’s work.
“To call on foreign governments to interfere with an institution that you know is a Chapter 9 institution is problematic in the extreme,” Tselane said.
There have been calls for the IEC to remain firm against the opposition party, despite some calling it nothing more than a populist response to polls which indicate that the DA might perform less than expected in the elections later this year.
“You can’t just make statements in the media and on public platforms without verifying. The only way you can verify is by going through the electoral court, using the instruments that are there in law,” the former commissioner said.
The ANC has also lashed out at the DA letter and said it found the opposition’s clear and blatant move an attempt at interference with the sovereignty of the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC’s door-to-door campaign in Ekurhuleni on Sunday, President Ramaphosa said the move was clearly a cheap tactic from the DA.
“We think it’s quite disingenuous. There seems to be another agenda that underpins that,” Ramaphosa said.
However the DA’s shadow international relations minister Emma Powell has defended her letter, and said there was nothing sinister or novel about her party’s approach.
“It is international best practice throughout most of the world that international observers and election monitors are sent during any key election to monitor the systems and processes of elections to ensure a free and fair outcome,” Powell said.
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