The IEC has urged parties to work together in holding a peaceful general election on 8th May. Political parties, the IEC and the SABC met in Durban to discuss areas of concern. The IEC’s operations manager Ntombifuthi Masinga says people should use legal processes to resolve issues.
“If things happen at our voting stations, PLC members know exactly how to escalate things that happen at the voting stations. We’ve terminated people for something that some of us will consider something trivial. There is protocol in the organisation in terms of how we deal with complains and I would again advocate that we get use to the culture of using the mechanism that exists. I think there’s enough platforms created for parties to complain,” says Masinga.
Political parties say they welcome the platform they have been given by the IEC and SABC to engage with all stakeholders before the upcoming elections. The UDM’s Bongani Msomi, and the AIC’s Khaya Mhlaba explain.
“What is important is that as the UDM we are very impressed by the SABC as well as the IEC because we have to encourage the communication of all the stakeholders especially as we’re approaching the elections,” says Msomi.
“We are happy as AIC today to get information from the IEC and SABC and we are proud of them and we’re going to make sure that our members understand the roles and regulations of the IEC,” says Mhlaba.
