Local elections should be spread over 3 days

THE Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has taken note of last week’s Constitutional Court judgment regarding the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE). The Constitutional Court has dismissed the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) application for a postponement and confirmed that the LGE are scheduled to take place between October 27 and November 1, 2021.

As we have said on previous occasions, the IFP is committed to upholding the Rule of Law and will abide by the Constitutional Court judgment regarding the LGE.

Despite the pending application, the IFP did not want to be caught unaware. We have therefore been making our preparations for the upcoming LGE, among others, by ensuring that we adhered to the existing IEC timeline and by meeting all deadlines such as the recent deadline for the submission of candidate lists. The IFP has consistently maintained that all our structures will be ready to contest an election regardless of the date.

Now that we have certainty around the election date, all IFP structures will be galvanised into action, in preparation for October 27. We are committed to ensuring that all our candidates have the support needed to successfully contest the election.

Despite the application for a postponement being set aside, the health threat posed by the coronavirus is still very real and cannot be ignored. As the IFP, we therefore call on all South Africans to adhere to Covid-19 regulations, to prevent any unnecessary transmission of the virus.

We would also like to echo our suggestion that the election be spread over three days, to limit the number of people at the polls, and limit the possibility of the voting process causing super-spreader events, particularly in Covid-19 hotspots. MKHULEKO HLENGWA, MP National Spokesperson