Political parties have expressed mixed reactions over the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision to accept the recommendations of the Moseneke Inquiry regarding the postponement of the local government elections in South Africa.
The Moseneke Inquiry recommended that free and fair elections will not be possible on October 27 and that the elections should take place in February 2022. On Friday, the IEC announced its acceptance of the recommendations.
Judge Moseneke delivers his report on whether the local elections in South Africa should take place in October 2021.
IEC accepts findings of Moseneke’s report to postpone elections
IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini says the first step will be to postpone the national voter registration weekend scheduled for the end of this month.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) National Treasurer Thandi Nontenja says they welcome the decision.
“We feel that the UDM is vindicated because this is what we’ve been calling for – to say the environment is not conducive. Even the February we still don’t think will be convenient. 99.9% of the parties today in our MPL called for a flexible situation where when the IEC apply for the extension or the postponement, it must be a flexible one up to April at least.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA), which is against the postponement, says it will closely monitor the IEC’s next move to make sure it’s in line with the country’s constitution. Party Spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube says they have noted the decision by the IEC.
“We have noted the decision by the IEC to fully adopt the Moseneke report,” says Gwarube.
Gwarube says it is important to consider how the IEC and the court plan to approach the situation.
“Because what we want to make sure is that whatever mechanism is being used, we want to make sure that it’s consistent with the constitution. We want to make sure that a dangerous precedent of postponing the elections for whatever reason is not set,” says Gwarube.
Political parties react to IEC’s adoption of the Moseneke report
