The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that voter registration for the upcoming local government elections will be held on the weekend of September 18 and 19, when new voters can register and existing voters can update their details. The IEC is also set to re-open the candidate list for the 2021 municipal elections.
The ANC (African National Congress) has gladly accepted this decision, as some of its municipalities failed to submit their list of candidates to take part in the elections. While the ANC has grabbed this opportunity with both hands, opposition parties are not quite sure about the IEC’s decision to re-open registrations. Opposition parties have reacted to the IEC’s decision
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Francois Rodgers commented that, “The DA is challenging the matter, as all parties knew about the elections timetable and the deadline for submissions and deposits. In fact, many parties meet these deadlines, so one has to question why the ANC is now given preferential treatment. The EFF’s application was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for an extension. Precedent was set, with both the IFP and NFP missing the IEC deadline in past elections and not being offered an extension. Why should it be any different now? The ANC needs to get its house in order and stop playing the victim.”
Mam Khabo Nene MaMdlose, who is one of the leaders of the NFP (National Freedom Party) at AbaQulusi, said, “We don’t feel so good about the decision to re-open the registrations, as we, on our side, submitted everything on August 23. We did everything in our power to reach the deadline, so we are seriously not happy about this (decision). We have come to think that the ANC and the IEC have a relationship we do not know of.”
EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) party member Thulani Ndlovu mentioned that, “We have no problem regarding the decision that was made, but we are noting everything that is taking place. We need the Constitutional Court to look closer and deeper into the decisions that are made, as we have come across incidents like these before where the NFP and IFP were in the same position as the ANC is now. However, we are noting everything.”
Mr Mabaso from the IEC reminded voters in AbaQulusi that there are 112 voting stations in total, in all 23 wards, and what to bring to the voting stations. “All voters should be in possession of a green ID document, temporary ID or a smartcard. Those are the only legal documents we will accept. The stations will be open from 08:00 to 17:00. One can also SMS 32810 plus their ID number or www.elections.org.za to check their status of voting.”
As the president moved the country to Alert Level 2 Lockdown on Monday, Mr Mabaso mentioned that the rules and regulations for the lockdown are still in place. There will be no entry without a mask at the voting stations; voters will be sanitized and social distance will be maintained.
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