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The Electoral Commission of South Africa would need four years to
prepare for new elections should the Constitutional Court rule that addresses
must be on the voters’ roll, the court heard yesterday.
The court is currently hearing arguments on the status of those
voters whose addresses were not on the roll, and whether the lack of addresses
would render the roll invalid. If the court found that it did render the roll
invalid, it could mean the August 3 local government elections would have to be
postponed.
About 12 million registered voters did not have addresses on the
voters’ roll. The need to have voters’ addresses on the roll first entered the
spotlight following a Constitutional Court ruling that by-elections held in
Tlokwe in 2013 were not free and fair. That judgment was handed down in November
last year.
The court ruled that all new voters who registered had to have
address details, or sufficient details of where they lived, to place them in a
voting district.
In February, the Electoral Court halted the Tlokwe by-elections
after six independent candidates complained that more than 4198 addresses were
missing from the new voters’ roll. Subsequently, the IEC postponed several other
by-elections around the country.
The IEC approached the Constitutional Court to seek clarity on the
ruling, including the question of whether a lack of addresses would invalidate
the roll.
The respondents in the case are the independent candidates, the
ANC, the Democratic Alliance, the minister of cooperative governance and
traditional affairs, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the National House of
Traditional Leaders.
Gilbert Marcus, for the ANC, said the party agreed with the IEC
that there was no need for addresses.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said the problem was that Marcus
could not say with confidence that all those who were registered and on the roll
were entitled to be voting in the specific wards.
Muzi Sikhakhane, for the cooperative governance department, said
the right to privacy came into play when information like addresses was made
available to political parties. Mogoeng set this argument aside, saying it was
probable that no more than 1 000 people would object to this as such details
were used all the time.
“I even get messages from Miladys in the middle of the night,”
Mogoeng said, referring to the chain of women’s clothing stores.
Wim Trengove, for the IEC, earlier said the organisation did not
keep a record of the people who did not have addresses.
Justice Sisi Khampepe said she did not understand how the IEC had
not obtained the required addresses since 2003, given that they had had 13 years
to do so.
Trengove said nearly eight million people did not have addresses,
and another eight million had incomplete addresses. – News24
