Velani Ludidi
Cape Town - The eight by-elections scheduled to take place today have been postponed.
This decision comes after the IEC urgently requested the Electoral Court to put the by-elections on hold. There were concerns about how the by-elections across the country could continue as President Cyril Ramaphosa moved the country to alert level 4 and banned political gatherings on Sunday.
This morning, the Electoral Court authorised the postponement of the by-elections for a period not exceeding 120 days from the date of the order. The court also granted the Electoral Commission leave to approach the court for further relief should it be necessary.
Workers were told by last night not to report for duty today and there were no movements in Ward 51, Langa, which is one of the wards expected to have a by-election.
“The Electoral Commission took the decision to seek the court’s approval to postpone the by-elections this week following the implementation of level 4 lockdown restrictions which prohibit almost all public gatherings including political gatherings,” said IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela.
“The Electoral Commission will continue to assess the prevailing conditions including the level and scope of restrictions imposed in terms of the Disaster Management Act to determine an appropriate date for the by-elections to be held. The Electoral Commission will engage with the relevant provincial MECs for Cooperative Governance other key stakeholders including political parties and candidates who are registered to contest the by-elections in this regard.”
Today’s by-elections were to have taken place in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape across 48 voting stations and involving 71 305 registered voters. They were to have been contested by 40 candidates from 14 political parties, and three independent candidates.