The fairness of the 2021 local elections has been called into question following two recent developments.
The first development was the Constitutional Court’s decision not to postpone the election, but to push it back by five days from 27 October to 1 November, according to a case streamed on the court’s YouTube channel on 20 August.
“It is a very powerful precedent that the Constitutional Court held the line on the rule of law,” said Dr Leon Schreiber, Democratic Alliance (DA) constituency head for Stellenbosch Municipality.
The second was the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa’s decision to reopen registration for ward councilor candidates, as announced in an IEC news release on 6 September.
“This decision is an unprecedented violation of the fairness of elections,” claimed Schreiber. “All political parties were subject to the same August deadline. The IEC itself had previously argued before the court that it was impossible to re-open candidate submissions if a party missed the deadline.”
Schreiber claimed that the IEC used the short postponement of the election as the basis for reopening candidate registration to specifically benefit the African National Congress, who had not registered candidates in 93 municipalities.
Tensions have heightened amongst local political parties, particularly the Democratic Alliance (DA) and African National Congress (ANC), amid two important decisions from the Constitutional Court and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). ILLUSTRATION: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
An ANC perspective
For members on the other side of the political aisle, the IEC’s decision is a necessary one because it extends voter registration too, according to Ronalda Nalumango, ANC public representative in Stellenbosch and provincial secretary for the Western Cape.
“Lots of first-time voters were not being afforded the opportunity to register and vote,” said Nalumango. “Not everyone has online access.”
All ANC candidate lists had been registered in Stellenbosch by 23 August, according to Nalumango.
“It is a very powerful precedent that the Constitutional Court held the line on the rule of law,” said Leon Schreiber, Democratic Alliance constituency head for Stellenbosch Municipality, on the court’s decision to proceed with the 2021 local elections. PHOTO: Sourced/parliament.gov.za
An IEC perspective
Michael Hendricks, Western Cape Provincial Chairperson for the IEC, told MatieMedia that “there is no link between the IEC making decisions and the ANC”.
The IEC’s decision to extend voter registration to a registration weekend was in line with directives from the Constitutional Court, according to Hendricks.
“We are having a registration weekend because we believe it is the best opportunity for the most South Africans to have the opportunity to register,” said Hendricks.
Michael Hendricks, Western Cape provincial chairperson for the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), explains the IEC’s decision to have a registration weekend on 18 and 19 September.
Stellenbosch dynamics
While the DA has taken the matter to court, Schreiber does not appear concerned that the IEC decision will undermine DA strength locally.
“Stellenbosch is one of the top municipalities in the country,” claimed Schreiber, who credited the local governance under Stellenbosch mayor Gesie van Deventer for this. “We are running on the basis of this proud record.”
Conversely, Nalumango told MatieMedia that the ANC is gradually winning back DA wards within the municipality, citing concern for the working class as an important campaign issue in Stellenbosch specifically.
“We are really winning back the community. The ground has changed…It won’t happen overnight, but bit by bit,” said Nalumango.
The voters’ roll will close on Monday 20 September, at which time the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will issue a new proclamation of the election date, according to Hendricks.