Political parties have welcomed the declaration of November 1 as the date for this year’s local government elections, which, for the first time in SA’s history, will take place on a Monday.
Cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma made the announcement on Wednesday, and assured the country that political parties would be able to campaign, “though there may be some restrictions”.
“It is the first time that elections will be held on a Monday. The IEC having not had the registration weekend earlier and having hoped for the Constitutional Court to postpone the elections, now they have a short time to do everything and do it correctly.
“So they feel that they need every hour, minute to complete this process. That’s why we had to use the outer date and unfortunately that date does not fall on a Wednesday,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma’s remarks follow recent consultation with the IEC, after the ConCourt dismissed its bid to postpone the elections to next year. The court ruled that the vote must take place between October 27 and November 1.
EFF national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said the party welcomed the date, but expressed concern over the poll taking place on a Monday.
SA has traditionally held elections on Wednesdays, which allows for special votes to be cast on the Monday and Tuesday.
South Africans are desperate for a change in our political system. We are more than ready to contest the coming elections, with fit-for-purpose candidates who have the interests of communities at heart.
— Action SA leader Herman Mashaba
“Now it [special voting] falls on the weekend. How are they [the IEC] going to manage? A lot of things are going to be strange, not because of Covid-19 but political manoeuvring by the IEC,” he said.
Pambo accused the commission of colluding with the ANC, after its decision to reopen candidate registration.
He said the party had since decided to join the DA’s bid to nullify the IEC’s decision to reopen the registration process for ward and proportional representation councillor candidates.
“We will take them on, even if they say we vote at 3am. We are an eight-year-old political party showing signs that we are going to take over. We are not intimidated,” he said.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said the party would work towards the November 1 date, but also expressed concern over the day of the week.
“A Monday will be problematic. We’ve never had such an election before, but we will have to deal with the circumstances as they arise. We will work towards that date, which gives us a few more days than the initially proclaimed date,” he said.
Meanwhile, Action SA leader Herman Mashaba welcomed the election date, saying his party was ready to bring change.
“South Africans are desperate for a change in our political system. We are more than ready to contest the coming elections, with fit-for-purpose candidates who have the interests of communities at heart and the expertise to bring real service delivery to residents. We look forward to the elections,” he said.
The DA’s John Steenhuisen said the party was ready to bring real change to metros and municipalities destroyed by years of ANC failure. The DA had opposed the IEC’s case to postpone the vote.
“Actions speak louder than words. Given a clear mandate to govern and five uninterrupted years to start ushering in the DA difference, we will demonstrate that there can be no going back to an ANC government. We will demonstrate that only the DA gets things done.
“We are ready, we are fired up and we say: Bring it on,” he said.
Dlamini-Zuma could not confirm if the voting day would be declared a public holiday or not.
“There will be discussions with the minister of home affairs and the president,” she said.
Asked when government would ease the lockdown regulations ahead of the elections, Dlamini-Zuma said consultations were under way.
“We are guided by the pandemic. Now we are at level 3, but as the numbers of people infected daily go down, that will change. The president will talk to the nation but in the meantime we are consulting with different stakeholders,” she said.
However, the exact nature of what happens next is still to be determined given the DA’s legal challenge to the IEC’s decision to reopen the candidate registration process - a decision that threw the ANC a massive lifeline after the party failed to meet the initial deadline.
Dlamini-Zuma would not comment on the matter after being cited as a respondent in the case.
“Now that the DA has filed papers in court against the interpretation that the IEC had of reopening candidate registration, it means that matter is now sub judice because I’m cited in their papers a respondent. So I would rather not answer that question until my affidavit,” she added.
In an urgent application to the ConCourt, the DA said in court papers that the IEC’s decision was unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.
The party said the commission was not permitted to reopen the candidate registration process, as the apex court’s order last Friday only allowed amendments to the election timetable that were a “reasonably necessary” consequence of a voter registration weekend.
The DA’s Werner Horn said in an affidavit that the “obvious” meaning of reasonably necessary was amendments necessary to cater for the reopening of the voters’ roll due to the voter registration drive.
“It is not a licence to make amendments that are unconnected to reopening the roll and which the commission already decided not to make. Yet that is what the commission has done,” he said.
If a political party failed to ensure its members registered as voters so they could stand as candidates, or prospective independent candidates failed to take advantage of that opportunity, they have only themselves to blame.
— The DA’s Werner Horn
Horn said reopening the candidate nomination process was not necessary to accommodate new voters who wanted to stand for office, because political parties were aware from May that the voters’ roll would close on August 3. “Vitally”, said Horn, any prospective candidate was always able to register at a municipal office or online.
“If a political party failed to ensure its members registered as voters so they could stand as candidates, or prospective independent candidates failed to take advantage of that opportunity, they have only themselves to blame,” said Horn.
He said there was “absolutely no connection” between reopening the voters’ roll and reopening candidate nomination.
The DA has also applied conditionally to the Electoral Court should the ConCourt not entertain its application.
The commission filed its notice to oppose on Wednesday and said it would file an answering affidavit, as directed by the ConCourt.
But in its short notice of opposition, the IEC said the DA’s case was “untenable in law” and “premature on facts”. The commission added that the case amounted to “an impermissible attempt by a political party, involved in an election” to have the ConCourt “second-guess the decisions of the commission concerning the proper holding of the elections, midway through the electoral process”.
The DA had also failed to take account of the need to afford “appropriate respect” to the commission in making decisions in fulfilment of its constitutional duty to ensure free and fair elections, said the notice to oppose.
The commission agreed that the DA’s application should be considered directly and urgently by the highest court as “there is an urgent need for a final decision”. But it said the ConCourt should dismiss the application “without the need for a hearing”.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.