Right of reply: ActionSA’s logo is not an embarrassment to the party

The following is a response from ActionSA on the article ActionSA’s ’embarrassing’ logo saga could hurt party – analyst, published on 17 November 2020.

Without offering any explanation, Daniel Silke offers the peculiar view that the rejection of ActionSA’s logo is somehow an embarrassment to the party.

Mr Silke makes offers no opinion on whether the IEC erred in their judgement, makes no assessment of the perceived similarities of the logos and nor has he sought to understand the matter whatsoever.

Mr Silke may have come to understand that the IEC compared different logos in the appeal from what they considered in the original application. I also note no appreciation for the fact that the IEC had to concede that their rejection on the grounds of the Heraldry Act was overturned in the appeal, begging the question – if a matter of law is incorrectly applied, how can subjective matters of perceived similarities be trusted.

It may too have been realised that the IEC did not deregister the party ActionSA is deemed similar to, despite the fact that they did not re-register, did not contest the 2019 General Elections and are not represented in any legislature – all of which are provisions in law.

With a simple call it would have been understood that the IEC, in their response, confirm they are now applying a new and stricter standard to registration, in what has to be one of the most subjective processes permitted in our laws.

Had Mr Silke read the IEC’s response to the appeal he may have seen that the IEC relied on the possibility of power outages as a concern for voters being confused or the possibility of black and white ballot papers – something which has never happened.

ActionSA walked away from the prospect of likely legal victory against the IEC. Focussing on a legal case over a logo would be painfully out of touch with the needs of South Africans who need an alternative that can unseat the ANC more than they need any specific configuration of shapes and colours.

This is not something to be embarrassed about when a political party puts the needs of the people of South Africa first. Perhaps a better focus for Mr Silke may be the concern for the actions of the Chapter 9 Institution, entrusted with our electoral democracy, in this matter.

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