Van Niekerk threatens GOOD with legal action
National Alliance president Gary van Niekerk has threatened to take legal action against GOOD for an electoral breach after the party publicly pronounced it had received an endorsement from a faction of his party.
On Sunday, GOOD held a media briefing at the Yacht Club when it announced that Compatriots of SA (CSA) and a faction of the National Alliance had offered support for the upcoming general elections.
Van Niekerk sent a letter to GOOD regional chair Siyanda Mayana after the media briefing.
He warned that the briefing was a deliberate attempt to mislead voters which was against electoral rules.
“It is clear that the GOOD political leadership, who are well aware that I am the legal representative of my political party at the IEC, and that my political party will not be participating in this year’s elections, were intent on holding this morning’s [Sunday’s] political event with these fraudsters, in bad faith to garner votes,” Van Niekerk wrote.
He did not outline which electoral laws were broken.
The National Alliance is embroiled in a factional battle.
While Van Niekerk maintains he is party president, branches of the faction led by Japie Jansen see him as president.
After the media briefing, Van Niekerk slammed GOOD, saying they would not support a party aligned to their councillor, Lawrence Troon.
Responding to whether Van Niekerk had complained to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Eastern Cape spokesperson Sanda Nodada said the electoral court adjudicated such matters.
“The IEC does not have powers to exclude or disqualify any party or independent candidate from participating in an election.
“Reports related to the code of conduct or prohibited conduct must be reported to codeofconduct@elections.org.za
“If an act of criminality is detected, a parallel report must be made to the police, with evidence.
“The IEC will then write to the alleged perpetrator, giving them a right to reply within two days.
“After they respond, the IEC sends the reply to the complainant accordingly and if they are not satisfied, the complainant is free to approach the Electoral Court for recourse,” he said.
National Alliance spokesperson Morne du Plessis said they would write to the IEC.
“The IEC electoral fraud and offences section specifically speaks to an electoral offence being committed when anybody is forced to ... support a political party and attend a political event,” he said.
“GOOD defeated the ends of justice when they knowingly invited illegitimate persons fraudulently claiming to be National Alliance leaders to a political event, where registered voters were invited to attend as well.
“This was done so that GOOD could gain support for their political party from the illegal so-called leadership and National Alliance voters.
“By airing this event live, it allowed National Alliance voters and other political parties to believe that the National Alliance endorsed GOOD.
“This legal infringement, according to the IEC, is punishable by a fine or a prison term of up to 10 years.”
Mayana dismissed Van Niekerk’s letter.
He said GOOD would continue to work with the faction.
“They are barking up the wrong tree because we have no reason to believe that Bevan Brown and Japie Jansen are not leaders of the National Alliance,” he said.
Brown is a National Alliance councillor who split from Van Niekerk’s grouping.
“They are not even clear on what law was broken while they threaten legal action,” Mayana said.
“We spoke to people who we believe are the legitimate leaders.
“Those are issues they need to sort out among themselves.
“We will continue to work with these comrades because we believe they can help us appeal to their political constituency and win numbers so we can be sufficiently represented at the provincial level and National Assembly.”
The National Alliance has been embroiled in factional battles since 2022.
Last year, several branches and members expelled by Van Niekerk and his executive held a congress and elected Jansen as president.
Van Niekerk and Stag Mitchell headed to the Gqeberha high court last year after city manager Noxolo Nqwazi declared their seats vacant in October.
They applied to interdict the Electoral Commission of SA from replacing them as PR councillors of the National Alliance in the first part of the application.
Judge Denzil Potgieter ruled in his favour.
The second part will be argued at a later stage and seeks to review and declare Nqwazi’s decision to declare the vacancies unlawful and set aside
Jansen attended the media briefing on Sunday with chair Kerwin Stuurman and treasurer Melony Loggenberg.