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A bid by the National Freedom Party (NFP) to be included in this year’s elections following its disqualification this week could cause administrative chaos if the Electoral Court rules in its favour.
The party was disqualified when it failed to pay the required deposit by the deadline. It then sought relief from the Electoral Court. On Friday, judgment was reserved in the South Gauteng High Court.
Terry Tselane, the deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), said this could be disastrous for the commission, which is set to print ballot papers by Tuesday. He said, should the court rule in favour of the NFP, the commission would have to comply with the judgment and reprint the papers.
“We can’t afford to delay the printing process, so we will be going ahead with printing the ballot papers without the NFP being on them. It would mean chaos to delay because it will affect distribution nationwide, meaning that papers may not get to where they need to be on time on voting day. These things are driven by very tight time frames,” Tselane said.
The NFP’s Sabelo Sigudu said they didn’t know when the judgment would come: “It could be next week or the week after.”
But the commission’s woes do not end with the NFP, as the trust deficit between it and political parties continues to deepen.
Despite the IEC publicly condemning the recent surge in pre-election violence and reiterating that the cost of violence is disqualification from the elections, no action has as yet been meted out to perpetrators.
Tselane this week said this year’s elections were “one of the most complex, difficult and, in certain instances, worrisome”.
“We have got to urge our staff to be vigilant, and to act with integrity and credibility, but also to urge the different political parties to tone down their messages, to try to lower their temperatures.”
His comments come after a number of parties publicly indicated that they believed the commission was compromised and could not conduct elections fairly.
The DA’s Mike Moriarty told City Press this week that while it was not opposed to the IEC, the party had deep concerns.
“The IEC is constitutionally mandated to manage elections and to ensure that elections are free and fair. We support their role as such. However, in respect of the former, the IEC has until now enjoyed a good reputation, but as regards the latter, it has avoided this responsibility.
“Some IEC staff have even been actively biased and some have engaged in outright fraud. As such, we are concerned about whether they have the courage and wherewithal to withstand what will be great pressure from the ANC to ensure they do not lose elections,” Moriarty said.
Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said that following a meeting with the IEC about the party’s concerns, it was willing to give the commission the “benefit of the doubt”. However, it still had serious reservations.
“They still need to win the confidence of the EFF.”
Meanwhile, the NFP criticised the commission, saying the online processes were meant to discourage the party.
“We believe it is a strategy to make it difficult for us to comply,” party spokesperson Sigudu said.
“The online process is the worst thing that the IEC could do; there wasn’t even time to educate our people on how it works. We know that the president appoints those working within the IEC. There must be a complete overhaul at the IEC; [President Jacob] Zuma can’t appoint his friends, like [IEC chairperson Vuma] Mashinini.”
All of this outcry may trickle down to the public, and the sentiment that the IEC is compromised may gain momentum.
“It is important that we gain the trust of the people because you can imagine what happens ... if people don’t believe in the election management. All responsible leaders must assist us in making sure that the situation is arrested before it gets out of hand,” Tselane said.
