Judgment has been reserved in the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) application to the Constitutional Court to postpone the local government elections.
The IEC, a number of political parties and civil society organisations made presentations to the apex court on Friday arguing for and against the deferment of the poll scheduled for 27 October 2021.
Video | Analysis of IEC’s ConCourt bid to postpone municipal elections: Dr. Ina Gouws
Local Government Elections | Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi discusses IEC’s Constitutional Court bid
The IEC, through its lawyer Steven Budlender, says that it has acted responsibly and diligently in preparing for the local government elections to be held in October despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented.
The Electoral Commission has been questioned on why it did not establish an inquiry at an earlier time or approach Parliament to seek to resolve the problems it faced after President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced October the 27th as the date for the polls.
These include the prediction that a third COVID-19 wave was to hit the country around July and that it previously had to postpone by-elections due to the pandemic restrictions.
Video | Earlier on Friday: SABC News speaks to political parties about IEC’s urgent application to have Municipal Elections postponed
