Should we hold local government polls, or not?

Without clear communication, voters may be confused and suffer from poll fatigue

2021 is the year that local government elections are, or were, to be held.

As per Section 159 of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996, “Terms of Municipal Councils”, the term of a municipal council, may be no more than five years, as determined by national legislation and the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, with Section 24 prescribing that “the term of municipal councils is five years, calculated from the day following the date set for the previous election of all municipal councils”.

The elections must therefore be held within 90 days of the date of the expiry of the term of municipal councils, hence a term of five years and 90 days.

Considering that the last local government elections were held on August 3, 2016, a date sometime in the first week of November 2021 would be the maximum period to which the current term of office of municipal councils could be extended without being constitutionally delinquent.

Except that we’re in the midst of a pandemic.

And hosting an election without due caution could prove to be a superspreader event.

Political parties, predictably, have divergent views on whether the election should be held this year.

The EFF wants the elections postponed, or cancelled. This fits in with their desire to “harmonise” all the elections – national, provincial and local – to be held simultaneously on the same day.

Holding elections simultaneously would be very bad. The cost-saving to society would be minimal.

The consequences for democratic practice, election management and election administration are adverse and deleterious.

Suffice to say the EFF is not in favour of the 2021 local elections going ahead. The ANC is schizophrenic and ambivalent. This is unsurprising, given the fractious nature of its factions and fractions. A part of the ANC has a view that accords with the EFF’s. A second view holds that it must be constitutionally compliant and that the elections should go ahead, It is, however, equally true that the ANC is in no position to mount a credible election campaign, especially after the revelations at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.

Largely, considering the re-alignments taking place within the ANC and the EFF, parts of the ANC believe its better to have the election earlier rather than later to either consolidate internally. But there is a credibility crisis that the ANC in government faces that would motivate a postponement of the elections.

The DA believes the elections should go ahead, fundamentally because of the belief that regular elections are the foundational cornerstones of any democracy and that prolonging the term of office of the current local governments would not only be illegitimate but set in motion a bad, undemocratic and authoritarian precedent.

While it is not advisable to postpone any election in a constitutional democracy, there is a need to be prudent and practical.

A highly infectious disease like Covid-19, one could argue, is a good reason for postponing the local government elections and putting in place a transitionary mechanism that prolongs the current term of office, with a stipulated time limitation of perhaps six to eight months.

It is purely for the reason of practicality and the imminent danger that the Covid -19 pandemic might pose to society

This would ensure compliance with health and sanitation protocols but may prove more expensive since costs would escalate because of the utilisation of sanitisation, sanitising materials and equipment at each voting station.

These costs would be compounded by the fact that the election is spread over two days at venues and staff will be utilised for a longer period of time.

It also raises costs regarding safety, storage and transportation of balloting materials.

Without clear communication, voters may be confused and suffer from election fatigue.

Most importantly, however, it could compromise the storage and safety of the balloting materials, incentivise electoral irregularities and misbehaviour with fears of overnight tampering with election equipment, balloting materials, ballot stuffing or ballot theft.

In an already volatile political climate this could represent a serious flashpoint for conflict and will relentlessly call into question the credibility and integrity, freeness and fairness of the electoral process, and the legitimacy of the outcome.

Worse still is the habit of losers in elections often blaming the election administrator and election manager, which is an opportunity that has to be minimised.

Sooner, rather than later, a decision must be made, mindful of all of the considerations.

If necessary, the “doctrine of necessity” should be invoked as a purely transitionary arrangement rather than a precedent-setting exercise.