Judge President of the Independent Electoral Court, Boissie Mbha, says he is concerned that after 25-years, South Africa’s democracy is still maturing.
He was addressing representatives of political parties who signed a pledge in Durban, committing them to the IEC’s code of conduct.
Mbha lamented that issues such as political killings and violence during public protests, remain serious concerns in the run-up to May’s national election.
He says political tolerance applies to each and every South African.
“We can have all these beautiful measures, the electoral court, the IEC, civil society, the police and we can all howl and shout about political tolerance, but if the ordinary man in the street does not display and learn political tolerance all these mechanisms are going to come to nought.”
