Written replies by President Jacob Zuma to the National Assembly

23 Aug 2013

1861. Mr L S Ngonyama (Cope) to ask the President of the Republic:

What (a) is his position on the situation in Zimbabwe with regard to the run-up to the elections on 31 July 2013 and (b) are the further relevant details?

Reply:

South Africa is part of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) which was launched on 15 July 2013. SADC deployed over five hundred and seventy three (573) election observers throughout Zimbabwe. On 2 August the SEOM stated the following:

"In the course of observing the elections, the Mission noted that there was general adherence to the relevant national legal instruments and the SADC Principles and Guidelines governing Democratic Elections. The following best practices and lessons in the Zimbabwean elections were observed:

• Political leaders' continuous call for peace
• Availability of ZEC to Observers' enquiries despite its workload
• ZEC's readiness to accept responsibility and address the challenges arising from the multiparty liaison committee
• Existence of a multiparty liaison committee
• Prompt accreditation of Observers
• Use of indelible ink to prevent double voting
• Use of translucent ballot boxes

SADC, AU, COMESA and SADC Parliamentary Forum, with the large number of observers they had on the ground, were able to cover all the provinces of Zimbabwe and were able to pronounce on the electoral process.

***

2010. The Leader of the Opposition (DA) to ask the President of the Republic:

(1) What criteria does he use to determine if a foreign state has had a free and fair election;

(2) how did he factor in the irregularities identified by the African Union regarding the election in the Republic of Zimbabwe before congratulating Mr Robert Mugabe on winning the election;

(3) (a) at what time before the start of the elections is inspection of the voters roll too late for the election to be free and fair in the Republic of Zimbabwe and (b) how many (i) more voters that were turned away from the voting stations determines the election not to be free and fair and (ii) extra ballots printed is necessary to determine the Republic of Zimbabwe's election to be unfair;

(4) why does the Government's position on the fairness of the election in the Republic of Zimbabwe differ from the position held by the (a) European Union, (b) Commonwealth of Australia, (c) United Kingdom and (d) United States of America;

(5) Since the beginning of his term as President, which foreign elections in which the Government had played a role has he considered not to be free and fair?

Reply:

(1) The South African Government does not pronounce on elections held by other countries unless there is an Observer Mission sent to observe such elections. In the case of the recent elections in Zimbabwe, South Africa participated as part of the Southern African Development Community Election Observation Mission (SEOM) and the determination of the elections in Zimbabwe is based on the report of SEOM.

(2) It should be noted that while the African Union and SADC Observer Missions in their respective reports did highlight some challenges in the electoral process, they concluded that the elections on the whole were peaceful and free. It is against this background that, when the election results were announced by a constitutionally mandated institution in Zimbabwe, South Africa deemed it necessary to convey our congratulations to the declared winner of the elections.

(3) We cannot answer this question presently since we believe that the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe will, among other things, pronounce on these issues when it deals with the application filed by one of the political parties.

(4) It should be noted that the SEOM did not use the word "fair" in its preliminary statement. We also cannot comment on the positions of the other Observer Missions including the European Union, Australia, United Kingdom and United States of America.

(5) To date, under the Fourth Administration, the Government has not deployed national election observer missions. South Africa has instead formed part of the African Union or SADC Election Observer Missions and consequently we have associated with and followed the SADC election reports and determinations.

Issued by Mac Maharaj, The Presidency, August 23 2013

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