BY-ELECTIONS TO GO AHEAD
THE BY-ELECTIONS in the Sol Plaatje district will go ahead today after Northern Cape High Court Judge Johan Olivier struck an application to interdict the proceedings off the roll yesterday.
Expelled ANC councillors, who are contesting as independent candidates, sought to have the by-elections halted, pending the outcome of a review of their expulsion by the ANC national disciplinary committee.
The instructing attorney for the expelled councillors, Simethemba Mzuzu, said yesterday that he would first have to meet with his clients to decide whether they would appeal the judgment.
The legal representative for the ANC, advocate Monnapula Motlogelwa, from Johannesburg, said the expelled councillors could not claim to be members of the ANC if they were contesting the by-elections as independent candidates. “It does not make sense.”
He pointed out that six of the court applicants had registered to contest the by-elections as independent candidates.
“They should withdraw their candidacy if they claim that the electoral process is tarnished by a lack of integrity? You cannot have your cake and eat it.”
Motlogelwa believed that the expelled councillors should not have waited until a day before the by-elections to present their application to court.
“They knew that the by-elections would proceed as early as November last year, after their application to interdict their removal as councillors from Sol Plaatje Municipality was dismissed.
“They had another opportunity to seek relief from the court when the Independent Electoral Commission declared vacancies in their wards and announced the date of the by-elections. It is misleading to say that they only became aware that the by-elections would proceed on January 18 this year.”
He also said that other political parties who were contesting the by-elections should have been included in the court case.
“They have a substantial interest in the process and would be caught by surprise if the elections did not proceed. The time, energy and resources as well as the logistics involved in arranging the by-elections would amount to wasted expenses.”
Motlogelwa indicated that there were no guarantees that the expelled councillors would return to council, even if the interdict succeeded.
“They ignored the procedures to appeal the findings and sanction and went directly to the ANC national disciplinary committee.”
The legal representatives for the expelled councillors, advocate Anton Roux, from Bloemfontein, stated that the councillor vacancies had been advertised prematurely.
“It only became clear to my clients on January 18 that they had no alternative to prevent the by-elections from proceeding but to approach the court. They were also waiting for the ANC national disciplinary committee to review their expulsion. They first wanted to ensure that they had followed all internal channels. Things did not go according to plan as they were waiting to see how matters would play out.”
Roux added that in terms of the ANC constitution, membership was valid until all remedies had been exhausted with the highest body of the organisation, even after suspension or expulsion.
“Should the by-elections go ahead, the integrity of the election process will be tarnished. It has far-reaching implications and legal consequences. Those who took the time to vote would have been involved in a fruitless exercise. Consequently, all decisions taken by the new incumbents occupying seats in local government institutions may be declared null and void. If they succeed, the expelled councillors would have to be reinstated.”
Roux pointed out that the ANC regional disciplinary committee could not make decisions on behalf of the national disciplinary committee.