THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) held the Electoral Code of Conduct seminar and signing for the upcoming municipal election 2016 at the Apartheid Museum, Ormonde on Saturday, July 9.
Municipal Party Liaison Committee (MPLC) members and party leaders of Johannesburg Metro were invited to the seminar. They all gathered to commit themselves to upholding the underlying values and conduct required by the Electoral Code of Conduct, to which they publicly pledged adherence when they signed it.
Twenty-six political parties and 32 independent parties will go to polls on Wednesday, August 3 to contest the City of Johannesburg.
Doing his presentation the manager of Governance Institutions and Processes at the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA), Ebrahim Fakir said though they are advocating for free and fair elections, they must also think about the testing rules and the manipulation of the public institutions. “Think about SABC, think about the no-go areas like hostels where other parties cannot go and campaign. I urge all the political parties to think deeply about these issues, especially political intolerance,” he said.
He also mentioned that there is no political intolerance in South Africa but political thuggery. He substantiated this by comparing England and South Africa. “We had 13 deaths in this country over the last month, all related to politics. In England there was one political death, it took half a day in which they were able to discover the identity of the assailant, the politics behind it and the ideological predisposition. What do we know about the 13 deaths in our country?” he asked.
Elections are a salient act of democratic expression and participation. They thus represent the cornerstone of SA’s democratic edifice. In a democracy premised on plurality of political views it is important, therefore, that elections take place in an atmosphere and climate of calm, peace and tolerance.
The proclamation of the elections on May 23 triggered the application of provisions of the electoral code of conduct issued in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000. The provisions of the code are binding on political parties, their leaders, office bearers, candidates and supporters. The code also places a positive obligation on the leaders of political parties to counsel their members and supporters to conduct themselves in a manner that is not inimical to the code.
