DA notes IEC decision to accept recommendation to postpone Local Government Elections

23 July 2021

The DA has taken note of the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to accept the recommendation of the Moseneke Inquiry to postpone this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE). The Commission has indicated that it would now approach the Court for a postponement of the elections to 2022. 

On Tuesday, former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke released his report on the outcomes of his Inquiry into Ensuring Free and Fair Local Government Elections. The report recommended that it will not be reasonably possible for South Africa to hold a free and fair LGE on 27 October and that the elections be held by no later than the end of February 2022.

The DA’s position remains unchanged - we did not support the postponement of an election based entirely on the equivocal provisions of the Constitution which call for regular, free and fair elections.

We will, however, be studying the submission of the IEC to the Court to specifically look at the mechanism that the Commission seeks to use to postpone the election. It is absolutely important that this process is in line with the spirit and letter of the Constitution and protects the rights of all South Africans to go to the polls and elect a government of their choice. We will also be looking at issues of precedent that could be set by this postponement and on the basis of those specifics, make a decision on the next steps.

In our submission to the IEC, we made a number of arguments against the postponement which include the following:

Our view is that the LGE must adhere to the constitutionally prescribed timeframe. Which, according to the Constitution, is every 5 years.

The election timetable is a regulatory mechanism to ensure free and fair elections, and the “state of readiness” of political parties to participate in the elections is not a valid reason to postpone the LGE. 

Mass gatherings are not essential to holding free and fair elections. It is these events that give rise to the risk of Covid transmission - not the holding of elections in themselves. 

Arguments that the LGE will lead to increased Covid-19 infections can be disputed in light of the various by-elections which took place since the start of the State of Disaster.

Now that the IEC has made the decision to approach the courts, we will be keeping a close eye on this process in order to ensure that we protect the cornerstone of our constitutional democracy – frequent, free and fair elections.

Issued by Siviwe Gwarube, DA National Spokesperson, 23 July 2021