COUNCILLORS FIGHT IEC BID
Lawyers apply to fix error in ConCourt
EIGHT former Tlokwe councillors will oppose the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) lastminute bid to rectify its mistake of not filing the full record of its responses at the Constitutional Court.
On Friday, the IEC’s advocates, Marumo Moerane SC and Leah Gcabashe, filed the commission’s written submissions in its application to have the “unfortunate ” error fixed.
“It is submitted that given that the intention of the commission was all along to ensure that the full record of its responses under oath in the Electoral Court ought to be laid before this court, the error in not ensuring that all parties had a common understanding of what comprised the record was unfortunate, ” read the IEC’s submission.
The IEC said all the annexures are relevant to the determination of the councillors’ application for leave to appeal.
Former ANC councillors in the Tlokwe local municipality – David Kham, Johannes Johnson, Aaron Mhlope, Johanna Xaba, Ntombi Dikupe, Dikeledi Molefe, Velile Zicina and Khotso Ratloane – want the by-elections in 2013 to be set aside and the IEC ordered to convene new by-elections as the entire process was flawed.
The eight councillors were expelled by the ANC after political squabbles at the hotly contested municipality. The by-elections were instituted after the ANC expelled the eight for seeking to unseat then mayor Maphetle Maphetle.
The group stood as independent candidates in the subsequent byelections but complained about irregularities before the polls and launched an unsuccessful Electoral Court bid to set aside the results.
Kham told Sowetan parties in the case were given directions by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and that they would oppose the IEC’s application for condonation of its “unfortunate ” error.
“We are going to fight it,” Kham said. He said their lawyers informed him of the IEC’s application on Friday.
The IEC has pleaded with the country’s highest court that the error in not including the full con- tent of the answering and rejoinder affidavits, and related documents, should be condoned in the interests of justice and of a fair hearing.
“Without the inclusion of [the] annexure, this court would be at pains to fully appreciate how the Electoral Court arrived at its conclusion that the participation of incorrectly registered voters did not materially affect the outcome of the by-elections,” said the IEC.
The commission admits there were irregularities but maintains that where they did occur, they did not have a material impact on the by-elections ’ results.
The matter will be heard on Thursday.