EFF WILL OPPOSE THE ANC APPROACH TO THE ELECTORAL COURT TO EXTEND THE DUE DATE FOR COUNCILLOR CANDIDATES SUBMISSION.

Thursday, 26 August 2021

The EFF will oppose the ANC' application to the Electoral Court seeking to amend the elections timetable. The ANC's Deputy Secretary General publicly announced the ANC's intention to reopen the nomination of Councillor candidates simply because of the ANC's internal incapacity, infighting and incompetence. We call on the Independent Electoral Commission to oppose the ANC's application in order to protect its integrity.

The IEC publicly opened for nomination of Councillor candidates on the 3rd of August 2021 for all political parties and independent candidates seeking to contest in the local government elections. No political party in South Africa, including the ANC objected to the IEC Elections Timetable. On the contrary, the ANC argued in recurrent National Party Liaison Committee meetings convened by the IEC that they are ready for October 2021 Local Government Elections.

In the Commission chaired by former Deputy Chief Justice appointed by the IEC, the ANC's submission primarily argued and insisted that the 2021 Local Government Elections must not be postponed. The ANC's submission to Former DCJ specifically said that "as the ANC, we see no need to postpone the elections". Worse, it is the ANC President who announced that elections will be held in October during an ANC Campaign meeting in KwaZulu-Natal.

It is therefore opportunistic and unacceptable of the ANC, which knew of the Election Date before all political parties to approach the Electoral Court to accommodate their incompetence and inability to meet deadlines because of internal infighting and factionalism. The argument that the ANC's delay was due to a faulty electronic system is false and disingenuous because the IEC had an option of manual submissions for candidates that could not be submitted electronically.