The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the decision by the Constitutional Court to dismiss the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) application to set aside the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision to amend the electoral timetable to allow candidate registration following the open voter registration weekend on 18 – 19 September 2021.
The judgment vindicates the position taken by the ANC that the right of citizens to vote is inextricably linked to their right to stand for public office. It also confirms the correctness of the support given to the IEC’s decision by the ACDP, AIC, Al Jama-ah, COPE, FF Plus, Good, PAC and the UDM. We call upon the DA to refrain from further attacks on the integrity of the judiciary and the IEC.
We thank all the citizens who used the open registration weekend to register to vote, verify or amended their registration details.
Voter registration for local government elections continues online at http://registertovote.elections.org.za until midnight on Monday, 20 September 2021.
Citizens can also register at the offices of Municipal Electoral Officers until 17h00.
The ANC is ready to register all its candidates by the deadline of Tuesday, 21 September 2021. Our candidates have been selected through a rigorous, democratic and participatory process involving communities in the choice of who should represent them in local government, the sphere of government closest to the people. We call upon all citizens to give these ANC candidates an overwhelming mandate to continue working with them to build a better life for all.
We call upon all members of the ANC, and other political parties, to observe the Electoral Code of Conduct and also exercise maximum tolerance as they campaign for local government elections on 1 November 2021.
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ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
Enquiries:
Pule Mabe
National Spokesperson
071 623 4975