South Africa
IEC accepts recommendations to postpone local government elections─── 15:05 Fri, 23 Jul 2021
The IEC has accepted the recommendations and findings of former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke’s inquiry into the feasibility of holding this year’s local government elections.
The chairperson of the IEC, Glen Mashinini, made the announcement at a media briefing in Pretoria a short while ago. He said the IEC would be approaching the courts for a determination on the extension of the polls scheduled for 27 October 2021.
This could either be the Electoral Court or the Constitutional Court, Mashinini said.
On Tuesday, Moseneke’s inquiry into the feasibility of holding local government elections this year found that the scheduled elections would likely not be free and fair.
He said between now and the scheduled elections there would not be enough time for either the IEC or political parties to prepare for elections and campaign fairly and freely in the midst of a lockdown.
Moseneke recommended the polls be held no later than the end of February 2022.
