EFF statement on the court challenge to oppose the IEC decision to reopen council candidate registration
9 September 2021
The EFF will be joining the Constitutional Court case brought by the opposition to oppose the Independent Electoral Commission's reckless, partisan and patently unlawful decision to reopen councillor candidates nominations. The IEC decision to reopen councillor candidates nomination is unlawful and a direct defiance and disregard of the Constitutional Court directive that the election timetable published by the IEC on 4 August 2021 should remain applicable.
The IEC reasons are illogical and lack any coherence. The electoral law is clear on what happens when nominated councillor candidates die before the election. Also, a sensible and rational person who intended to contest for the elections would have submitted to the IEC a letter of intent to contest the elections, with a deposit, before a cut-off time specified in the election calendar was published in August.
The EFF has long warned that the IEC is slowly degenerating and is risking the legitimacy of South Africa's democratic dispensation. As the EFF, we will not tolerate the IECs partisan posture and incompetence. We will also not accept any fraudulent results because the IEC chose to contest the EFF on behalf of the ruling party. We call on the Constitutional Court to appreciate the sensitivity and urgency of the case brought before it to avoid plunging election legitimacy into a deeper crisis.
The EFF's joining of the Constitutional Court challenge is by no means a way of trying to win elections by technicalities and does not entail that we are afraid the incompetent and disorganized political parties that failed to register candidates on time. We are joining the case on the basis of a principle that there must be equal and consistent application of laws across all political parties.
We are confident that the Constitutional Court will defend its integrity by defending its decision that the election timetable must remain applicable for voter registration and Election Day proclamation.
We call on all branches of the EFF and all our candidates to continue doing work on the ground, organise, and mobilize for elections victory whether some incompetent and disorganized political parties are on the ballot or not.
Fighters, Commissars and all Ground Forces must not be complacent. Victory is Certain!
Issued by Vuyani Pambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 9 September 2021
