Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Deputy Chief Masego Shiburi says the Electoral Court has authorised the postponement of by-elections to May, due to the continued COVID-19 lockdown restrictions that prohibit political activities.
The Electoral Court has given the Electoral Commission permission to postpone the various by-elections which were scheduled to be held next month.
The IEC approached the court to postpone by-elections amid the spike in COVID-19 infections.
Shiburi says the implementation of the adjusted Level 3 Lockdown restrictions has also placed a temporary ban on all political activities and that’s the main reason for the postponement.
“The regulations do not permit for any social gathering and also against gatherings at social events. So under those circumstances, contestants may not have a chance to motivate their supporters which impedes freeness and fairness. We defer to the scientific judgment that gatherings of persons present conditions for the spread of the virus.”
The Electoral Court has authorised postponement of March #ByElections due to continued #COVID19SA level 3 lockdown restrictions which prohibit political activities. All Jan-March postponed by-elections have been rescheduled for 19 May. https://t.co/RKLH3F9oR3
— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) February 9, 2021
Party Funding
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the commencement of the Act which requires all political parties and donors to declare donations above R100 000 and prohibits donations by foreign governments, agencies, organs of state and State-Owned Enterprises.
It also prohibits a donation of more than R15 million annually. The Act, which seeks to regulate public and private funding of political parties, is expected to be legislated well before the hotly contested Local Government Elections this year.
Electoral Commission begins final preparations to implement Political Party Funding Act from 1 April 2021. Full statement at https://t.co/1QjrVAbVAr pic.twitter.com/bRQRhWTWMX
— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) January 29, 2021
Political parties have until July to declare any donations.
“The Act requires all political parties and their donors to declare their donations in kind that are above the value of R100 000 per year to the IEC and they must do so on a quarterly basis which we must publish online and table a record of annual donations in Parliament. This means that political parties will be required to declare all donations above the threshold that they have taken before April and June this year by no later than the end of July 2021,” says IEC Vice Chairperson Janet Love.
IEC briefs the media on implementation of the Political Party Funding Act:
