By Celani Sikhakhane
The Gap Fixers of South Africa, a newly-formed political party led by businessman Sbu Mpisane, the ex-husband of multimillionaire construction tycoon Shauwn Mkhize, is seeking help from a former leader to meet critical deadlines set by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Mpisane’s party aims to get 6,000 signatures in KwaZulu-Natal and 13,000 in Gauteng by Friday, the deadline for submissions to the IEC.
To achieve this goal, they have brought in Ericson Zungu, the former leader of the National Freedom Party (NFP), as their candidate for KZN premier.
“We trust that with Zungu’s influence, we will get the numbers we want to contest elections in KZN,” said Themba Buthelezi, who co-founded the party with Mpisane.
He said the party hopes to field candidates in all nine provinces.
IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo says the provisional list of candidates will be published for public inspection on 26 and 27 March.
The official deadline for submitting candidate lists is Friday 8 March.
Independent candidates, unlike political parties, only need to submit 1,000 national signatures to participate in the elections.
Mamabolo said communities can challenge the candidacy of individuals they deem unfit for public office.
The deadline to file such cases with the Electoral Court is 2 April, with appeals due by 9 April.
Mamabolo emphasised the strict voter registration requirements for this year’s election in which voters can only cast their ballots at their registered voting station.
Pictured above: Gap Fixers of South Africa KZN Premier candidate Ericson Zungu.
Image source: X
