Big three back NFP’s case for inclusion in elections
THE country’s three biggest political parties have come out in support of the National Freedom Party’s (NFP’s) last-ditch effort to contest this year’s local government elections. The NFP, the fifth-biggest party in Parliament, with six seats, will argue in the Electoral Court on Friday why it should be allowed to take part in the August 3 polls after it failed to pay the R90,000 deposit required by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).
The party, which was formed on the eve of the 2011 local government polls, won 644,917 votes, giving it more than 200 councillors, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Thursday, the ANC, DA and EFF all called for the party to be allowed to contest the elections.
The ANC said that in principle all political parties should be allowed to contest elections.
“We are a very young democracy and, therefore, we are still building a strong foundation of our proportional representation…. It’s always better to have everyone competing,” ANC national spokesman Zizi Kodwa said. “The NFP is a very active participant in shaping our democracy.”
The ANC and the NFP forged a coalition in 19 hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. NFP leader Zanele Magwaza-Msibi has worked closely with the ANC, and is the deputy minister of science and technology. However, she has not been very active since falling ill at the end of 2014.
NFP secretary-general Nhlanhla Khubisa said it was not a question of the NFP not having the money, but that the party’s treasurer had misread the deadline provided by the IEC and had paid the money late.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said that while he supported the NFP in its case in the Electoral Court, political parties had agreed to adhere to regulations.
“I hope the NFP is successful in their case, because it’s the best way to go about it,” he said.
The EFF took its support for the NFP one step forward by writing a letter to the IEC and the court requesting that they allow the party to take part in the polls.
“The NFP is currently a majority party in some municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, and a section of the electorate has demonstrated in 2014 general elections that they have confidence in the NFP," national spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
“Disallowing the NFP an opportunity to contest the … elections will not just be penalising the leadership of the NFP, but will be violating voters’ constitutional right to vote for a political party of their own choice,” Ndlozi said.