THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has extended its deadline for political parties and independent candidates to register for the local government elections, handing a lifeline to the embattled ANC, which risked ceding control over key municipalities and metros after missing a previous deadline for submission of lists.
The decision follows last week’s ruling by the Constitutional Court that the vote must take place between October 27 and November 1, and that the voters’ roll must be reopened.
At a media briefing on Monday, the commission stated that it was necessary to allow political parties and independent candidates an opportunity to nominate candidates after the voter registration weekend has occurred and after the voters’ roll has closed.
IEC commissioner Mosotho Moepya also rejected suggestions that the extension or reopening of candidate registration is meant to benefit or advance the interests of the governing party.
“We reject those views. We are clear we have taken considerations of the court judgment and other processes. It is not true we are acting out of convenience. The majority of parties agree with the view to reopen candidate registration,” said Moepya.
The DA’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said her party was opposed to the IEC’s decision to reopen the candidate registration process.
She said the DA has since briefed its lawyers to explore all available legal avenues to oppose the decision taken by the IEC.
“What we saw today gives the ANC an advantage that other parties have never enjoyed. It is a transparent strategy to benefit the ANC, and would go some way to explaining why the ANC withdrew its appeal to the Electoral Court to have the candidate registration deadline lifted. Why would they have done that if they did not have a fall-back position. Now their “Plan B” has been revealed,” said Zille.
“However, the DA believes this manipulation was specifically precluded by the ConCourt’s judgment, for which we are very grateful, and we will seek to have it formally stopped. The IEC cannot be used by the governing party to do its bidding. This is just another manifestation of the evils of State Capture by the ANC of state institutions. The DA will not hesitate to fight the IEC and the ANC in their blatant attempts to manipulate our Constitution and our electoral processes.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday following the ANC NEC Lekgotla that the governing party welcomed the decision of the IEC to declare ‘the weekend of 18 to 19 September as a registration weekend, and fully agrees with the IEC that there is an inextricable link between voter registration and the right to stand for public office’.
“Section 19 (3) of the Constitution provides that: “Every adult citizen has the right to vote in elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution, and to do so in secret; and to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold office,” said Ramaphosa.
“The ANC therefore further welcomes the decision to re-open candidate registration. We believe this is in line with constitutional and legislative prescripts. Let us all go out there and serve the people of South Africa selflessly!”
The IEC said it will hold a voter registration on the weekend of 18 – 19 September 2021.
All voting stations will be open from 8am to 5pm.
The commission will then publish a new timetable after the proclamation of a new election date by COGTA minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
“In view of the fact that the voter registration process has been re-opened by the order of the Court, a number of amendments to the electoral timetable are necessary. This is permitted by the Constitutional Court’s order, which make clear that the Commission is entitled to “publish such amendments to the current timetable as may be reasonably necessary,” the commission said in a media statement on Monday.
“This includes the need to set a new deadline for candidate nominations. The scheme of the Municipal Electoral Act is such that the voter registration deadline is intended to precede the candidate nomination deadline. For example, persons can only be nominated as candidates once registered on the voters’ roll and provided they are registered in the relevant segment concerned. It is therefore necessary to allow political parties and independent candidates an opportunity to nominate candidates after the registration weekend of 18-19 September 2021 has occurred and after the voters’ roll has closed.”
The ANC has been dogged by a shortage of funds and its staff have gone on a wildcat strike because they haven’t been paid.
The governing party blamed the IEC for its failure to register candidates in 93 municipalities, saying its computer systems had repeatedly malfunctioned. a
Had the extension not been granted, the ANC risked losing power in about 35 local councils by default, including a number in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, one of its main strongholds.
It also would have ceded control of the City of Tshwane metro, which includes the capital, Pretoria, to the opposition.
- Inside Politics
