Johnathan Paoli
THE Electoral Court has finalised the last matters on its court roll and dismissed the applications of five political parties to be included in the ballot.
The court made its judgment on Friday and has completely excluded the Independent SA National Civic Organisation (ISANCO) – member of the Multi-Party Charter of SA coalition, Cape Independence Party and Defenders of the People from the ballot, while Operation Dudula and Arise SA have been excluded from the national ballot, but will be running on a provincial level.
The concerned parties argued that they failed to submit on the deadline due to the IEC’s faulty systems, but the court rejected their arguments and said the one day of disruption did not justify the failure to submit the required information, considering all parties had at least a full month to comply.
While the Cape Independence Party has been removed from the ballot, the Referendum Party and Vryheidsfront Plus still remain in their attempt at securing the independence of the Western Cape province as a sovereign country.
The court decision paves the way for the IEC which said it will be proceeding with the printing of the ballots, with 52 parties contesting the national ballot, 30 to 44 contestants on the regional ballot, and 24 to 45 contestants on the provincial ballot.
“The Electoral Commission appreciates the hard work of the Electoral Court for bringing these matters to finality. These applications had immense implications for the production for the forthcoming elections,” the commission said.
Furthermore, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court is expected to make a ruling on Monday on the logo and trademark of Umkhonto weSizwe which could potentially lead to the MK Party having to change its name and emblem.
INSIDE POLITICS
