Arthur Greene
In the nick of time, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has handed the embattled ANC an election lifeline.
The IEC has given political parties more time to register their candidates for the upcoming local government elections.
The new deadline will be set after the voter registration weekend of 18 and 19 September, the IEC announced on Monday.
The announcement follows last week’s ruling by the Constitutional Court that the vote must take place before 1 November.
This offers a loophole for the ANC, whose dire financial situation meant the party had failed to register candidates in 93 municipalities by the previous deadline.
If the leading party is not able to contest these seats, it will lose 35 local councils by default, including the Tshwane Metropolitan area which includes Pretoria.
A shortage of funds led to a strike by party staff because they haven’t been paid their salaries for three months.
The ANC said that the IEC’s computer systems were the reason for their failure to register candidates, complaining that they had repeatedly malfunctioned.
The Concourt’s ruling of 1 November comes despite an independent inquiry finding that elections would unlikely be either free or fair if held in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The inquiry was established by the Electoral Commission and led by former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke.
Image source: @IECSouthAfrica
