IEC’s Sy Mamabolo says ‘anxiety’ caused by challenges will not derail elections

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) CEO Sy Mamabolo said though the Constitutional Court matter and the MK party candidates issue have “produced anxiety”, he is confident the general election will go ahead on 29 May.

Staff training will be concluded by 17 May and a “substantial number” of ballots have already been printed, Mamabolo told eNCA on Thursday – 19 days before the elections.

Technical difficulties ahead of elections

The Labour Party, the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats (AASD) and the African Congress for Transformation (ACT) appeared before the full bench of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Wednesday for their appeal applications to be heard pertaining to an Electoral Court ruling which upheld the IEC’s decision to exclude them from participating in the 2024 national and provincial elections.

According to the parties, the reason for not meeting the deadline was due to the IEC’s online registration system malfunctioning.

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The ConCourt will make a ruling on this on Friday.

Mamabolo expressed gratitude at this quick turnaround as “it creates certainty in the system”.

“So we wait and hear what the orders of court are in the next few hours tomorrow,” he said, appearing relaxed in the studio.

“Never before have we had to deal with cases in the apex court 20 days before the election.”

MK party matter

This while uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party interim leader and founder, Jabulani Khumalo, has written to the IEC, requesting it urgently remove former president Jacob Zuma as the face of the party and its president.

According to Khumalo, Zuma occupies these positions “fraudulently” and through “illegal manoeuvres”.

The party recently removed Khumalo, along with leaders Ray Khumalo, Bheki Manzini, Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson, on the grounds of “working with the enemy”, as some MK members cited Khumalo’s lavish lifestyle.

These former members are still listed as candidates, however.

“You do not wish to have a situation where a person is voted to hold office in the National Assembly, yet when the first sitting of the National Assembly convenes, it then emerges that this person is disqualified in terms of the constitution,” Mamabolo commented.

“It makes sense to clarify that issue ahead of the election so that all voters know that this candidate or the other candidate is not qualified. That’s the clarity we seek, not just for this election but for the future.”

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Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa and Thando Nondywana.