Nation will cast its vote on November 1
• Discussions on whether to declare a holiday • Voter registration on September 18 and 19
After weeks of drama and with court actions still hanging over the process, South Africans have a date for local government elections. The polls will be held on November 1, co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Nkosazana DlaminiZuma said.
The announcement on Wednesday came after the main opposition party, the DA, late on Tuesday filed papers to the country’s highest court seeking to set aside the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) decision to reopen the candidate nomination process, something that will disproportionately benefit the ANC after it failed to submit all its nominations on time.
The IEC had initially sought to postpone the polls until 2022 as recommended by former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke before the application was thrown out by the Constitutional Court in a ruling that allowed the IEC to redraw the election timetable, effectively handing the ANC a second chance to submit nominations that would put it in the running in key metros such as Tshwane, Cape Town and Mbombela.
Late on Wednesday, the ANC filed a response in SA’s apex court, saying the DA’s argument was “irrational” and that it was the court that opened the election timetable, which meant opening a fresh candidate and voter registration period had to happen before the election date is officially proclaimed.
“The argument raised by the DA thus runs counter to the express words of the court order and the DA impermissibly seeks to introduce words to the court order,” the ANC stated in court papers.
A voter registration weekend will now take place on September 18 and 19.
In recommending a postponement, Moseneke had cited the Covid-19 pandemic, which would imperil the ability of political parties to prepare and organise, as well as the infection risks from large gatherings.
Dlamini-Zuma said the choice of November 1 was in line with the constitution and the Municipal Structures Act, which “prescribes that the elections
must be held within 90 days from the end of the five-year term of the government”.
She noted that this would be the first time that elections are held on a Monday “as we normally hold them on a Wednesday”. Discussions would take place between President Cyril Ramaphosa and home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi on whether to declare the date a public holiday.
The date is significant because the elections will take place after a weekend, which may affect turnout.
But analysts said other factors, such as Covid-19 restrictions and voter feelings at the state of local government, would be more significant.
Stellenbosch University political analyst Amanda Gouws said the country may struggle to hold elections on a single day because of Covid-19 safety measures such as social distancing and sanitising, and that “they should maybe make it Sunday and Monday”.
Independent political analyst Ralph Mathekga said “voter turnout will have less to do with the pandemic and more to do with our local government, which is fraught with inefficiencies, corruption and malfeasance, and is nearing collapse”.
It is a watershed election for SA and the ANC, which has shed electoral support in recent polls. In 2016, it lost control of key metros such as the City of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, as traditional supporters, disillusioned by the scandals towards the end of Jacob Zuma ’ s presidency, stayed at home. In addition to a judgment on its management of municipalities, the polls will also be a test of whether voters have faith in Ramaphosa’s declarations on renewing the party.
On Monday, the IEC announced it would reopen the candidate registration process. Opposition political parties criticised the decision as deliberately throwing the ANC a lifeline because the party had missed an earlier deadline to submit its candidate nominations in 35 of the country’s 257 municipalities.
The DA’s Werner Horn said in an affidavit that reopening the candidate nomination process was not necessary to accommodate new voters who wanted to stand for office because political parties were aware from May that the voters roll would close on August 3.
“If a political party failed to ensure its members registered as voters so they could stand as candidates‚ or prospective independent candidates failed to take advantage of that opportunity‚ they have only themselves to blame‚” said Horn.
Dlamini-Zuma said the November 1 date would be formally proclaimed on September 20 after the voter registration weekend on September 18-19.
“Elections are important in advancing our young democracy. This sphere of government remains very important, it’s the hope for our people as it is closest to the people and is at the coalface of service delivery,” said Dlamini-Zuma.