ANC responds to malicious and baseless allegations by Helen Zille
1 September 2021
The African National Congress rejects outright the contemptuous insinuations by Helen Zille that the ANC's decision to withdraw its application to the Electoral Court for reopening of candidate registration was based on "leaks" from the Constitutional Court.
These insinuations are devoid of any truth. Not surprisingly. Ms Zille does not adduce a shred of evidence to support her utterances. This is a grave insult to the integrity of the Constitutional Court. and the judiciary in general. She should be ashamed of herself. We challenge her to withdraw these spurious allegations.
The ANC approached the Electoral Court after a number of political parties, including the ANC, failed to register all their candidates. This arose as a result of pressure placed on the candidate selection process by Covid-19 restrictions on meetings. amongst others. This was exacerbated by challenges experienced on the IEC's online candidate registration system.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on holding of free and fair elections was dealt with extensively by the Moseneke Inquiry. The application to the Constitutional Court for postponement of the elections is based on the report by former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. The report concluded that it would be impossible to hold free and fair elections by 27 October 2021. This conclusion was based on extensive expert medical evidence and submissions by political parties.
The ANC decided to withdraw its application to the Electoral Court in the interests of avoiding a proliferation of litigation before our Courts. We will await the judgment of the Constitutional Court. We reserve our right to pursue further remedies.
1) Die Burger this morning doesn't mince its words. In its headline it suggests that the ANC must have received inside information from the Constitutional Court, which led to the ANC withdrawing its case before the electoral court to re-open candidate registration.
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021
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2) The context is this. If the ConCourt enables the IEC to postpone the election, then it presses the "re-set" button and it issues a new timetable, which will enable the ANC to re-register its candidates. So the ANC would not have to get permission from the Elec Court.
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021
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3) The ANC's withdrawal from the Electoral Court indicates that they have been tipped off that the IEC's application to postpone the election was successful. If information is leaking from the Concourt to the ANC, it is nothing short of an Constitutional crisis.
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021
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4) If this is so, cadre deployment will have destroyed every institution, right up to the ConCourt, turning them into instruments of ANC power abuse, rather than protectors of the people against ANC power abuse. That is the crisis we are facing now. SAns must wake up.
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021
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Issued by Pule Mabe, Spokesperson, ANC, 1 September 2021
