Political parties have reacted to the ruling by the Constitutional Court that the October local government elections will go ahead as planned or latest on the 1 November.
The National Freedom Party (NFP) in KwaZulu-Natal says it welcomes the ruling.
NFP KZN Secretary Zandile Myeni says the party hopes the Independent Electoral Commission will make an announcement soon around the electoral programme.
“We will also wait for IEC to pronounce moving on what are they going to do but with this judgement, as the NFP we welcome it, because people of South Africa need to go and vote. It’s their constitutional right.”
The African People’s Movement in KwaZulu-Natal says it is happy with the ruling because the pandemic might be worse in months to come.
Apemo Chairperson Khumbulani Hlongwane says they have started campaigning.
“We respect the decision made by the ConCourt because it is on the constitution that each and every five years there must be local government elections. So, due to the pandemic that we are facing right now in the country and worldwide, we don’t know whatever month the elections can be postponed to, how the pandemic will be.”
More reactions to the ConCourt ruling:
Parties ready to contest elections
Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC ) leader Patrick Pillay says they are ready to contest the elections. Pillay says they have confidence in these elections.
“The DLC is prepared for the election. We are ready to go. We are geared up for the day. It’s the right thing to do. I think procrastination of this election will set a terrible precedent and it’s something that we would not recover from. So, the court was justified in our opinion that the election should not be postponed.”
Deputy President of the African Christian Democratic Party in KZN, Wayne Thring, says the party believes it is time for change.
“We believe that this decision is a decision which upholds the integrity of the Constitutional Court; not only does it do that, but it also gives citizens and voters in South Africa the opportunity to change councillors and the ruling powers in municipalities that are corrupt and have not considered service delivery a priority. As the ACDP, we stand ready to unite build and grow South Africa and we are ready to contest these elections.”
