The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Thursday briefed the media on the possible postponement of the local government elections later this year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last month that SA will hold its elections on October 27.
The decision was met with mixed responses from the EFF and the DA. The red berets said the elections should be postponed to ensure public safety, but the DA said it should go ahead.
The commission appointed former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke to review whether the date set by the president is conducive for free and fair elections.
Here are quotes from IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini:
Saving lives and upholding democracy
“The commission is acutely aware of the weight of its responsibility to find the correct balance between protecting our democracy and lives. Under the current unprecedented circumstances, we should not shy away from using every facility at our disposal to make sure we meet these obligations.”
Political parties must assist
“The commission wishes to appeal to all the political parties to assist justice Moseneke in meeting the deliverables within the timelines available to us.”
Political parties were told about process
“This is part of our consultative activity. We did engage with political parties and we also indicated to them that we will be putting forward this process that will take further an opportunity to make submissions about the issues they raised so they can be factored in the review to make sure everything is looked into.”
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