Tough questions were posed to the Electoral Commission's (IEC) legal representatives in the Constitutional Court on Friday as it sought to have the court postpone the local government elections, scheduled for October 27, to next year.
Lawyer for Electoral Commission argues if court were to grant an election date six months from now, for example, IEC could report monthly on its progressThe ConCourt on Friday heard arguments from legal representatives for the IEC on why the local government elections should be postponed to next year. File photo.
His argument was that there were three core mandates of the IEC — that it ensure that the elections happen after every five years, that the elections are free and fair and that they are safe. Steven Budlender SC, also for the IEC, said it was not true that the IEC had been “sitting on its hands” and no longer planning for the elections, submitting that it was doing what it could behind the scenes even while awaiting the outcomes of the court proceedings.
Trengove said this was not the case, highlighting that amending the constitution “would be a terrible suggestion” and set a bad precedent. Their submissions are premised on the anticipated fourth wave of Covid-19 infections and time constraints.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
ANC says elections must be held in October but also supports IEC bid for postponementParty will hold a special extended NEC meeting to ratify candidates for local government elections.
Read more »
JSE firms at the end of a tough weekJSE all share on track to break a three-day losing streak after falling more than 2% on Thursday
Read more »
ANC begs staff to be flexible with their go-slow to help meet IEC deadline - The Mail & GuardianANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte told the media earlier this month that staff had been paid their July salaries, but one employee told the M&G that June salaries had not been paid and that the provident fund was 35 months in arrears.
Read more »
LIVE FEED: ConCourt hears IEC’s urgent bid to postponement municipal electionsThe Constitutional Court is hearing oral arguments in the IEC’s application to temporarily shelve local government polls until February 2022 due to the CoronavirusPandemic
Read more »
Mmusi Maimane’s party wants municipal polls to go aheadOne South African Movement warns Concourt against judicial overreach should it agree with IEC’s bid to postpone local government elections.
Read more »
ConCourt to hear application to postpone local government electionThe Constitutional Court will on Friday hear an urgent application by the Electoral Commission of SA, which wants the local government elections postponed.
Read more »