IEC wants elections postponed

THE Independent Electoral Commission says the proclamation of the election date by Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has implications for its work as it prepares to head to the Constitutional Court, seeking a postponement.

The IEC was yesterday reacting to Dlamini Zuma gazetting the date for the local government elections as October 27.

The ANC said it would file a supporting application for the IEC's ConCourt application. The party said it supported a postponement of the elections of no more than six months.

Meanwhile, the DA said the proclamation was a move designed to assist the IEC in seeking a postponement. The party insists elections should go ahead on October 27, and has called on citizens to reject a possible postponement.

Dlamini Zuma said yesterday that by law, she had no choice but to proclaim the date of the elections.

The continued rise in Covid19 cases, amid a third wave of the pandemic, had necessitated a need to assess whether elections could go ahead, and whether they would be free and fair.

Retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke’s report, released on July 20, recommended a postponement of elections to February 2021.

Dlamini Zuma said the IEC was legally bound to approach the ConCourt seeking the postponement and her office must be cited as a respondent.