The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will meet this weekend to discuss the way forward following the Constitutional Court ruling that the local government elections will proceed as planned before 1 November. The IEC will make an announcement about the electoral programme on Monday.
The apex court has also instructed the IEC to determine within three days if it is practically possible to hold another voter registration.
If another registration is not possible, then eligible voters who wish to register can apply at their nearest municipal offices with the Cooperative Governance Minister expected to proclaim the new election day before the 10th of September.
The Constitutional Court ruling has shattered the ANC’s hopes of having another opportunity to register some of its candidates for the election.
Earlier the party’s treasurer-general Paul Mashatile told SABC News that if elections go ahead it means they have lost.
Reaction and analysis of Constitutional Court ruling on elections:
Meanwhile, Western Cape Local Government Minister Anton Bredell has welcomed the Constitutional Court’s ruling that local government elections must go ahead this year.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) approached the court recently to have the elections postponed from October to February next year. This after retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke released an IEC commissioned report in which he recommended that the polls would not be free and fair under the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Constitutional Court also ruled that elections must be held between a certain time period.
Bredell’s spokesperson James Brent-Styan says, “The court’s decision delivered that the local government scheduled for this year have to take place this year between 27 October and 1 November. The department of local government in the province is prepared for the upcoming elections.”
Political parties react to ConCourt’s ruling on elections to proceed this year:
![[FILE IMAGE] Kiernan "AKA" Forbes performs his hit song, Run Jozi at a restaurant in Sandton, north of Johannesburg in 2014.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SABC-News_AKA-Performing_by-Dinilohlanga-Mekuto-120x86.png)
