Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Thursday called on embattled Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chairwoman Pansy Tlakula to consider stepping down to save the credibility of the commission.
“The very credibility and the stability of the Electoral Commission is at stake,” DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said in a statement.
Selfe said he understood, however, that Tlakula may be considering appealing to the Constitutional Court against the Electoral Court's judgment finding her guilty of misconduct.
The Electoral Court found that Tlakula had broken the law in regard to the procurement of new leased premises for the IEC and recommended that a committee of the National Assembly find that it warranted her removal from office.
Selfe said the recommendation was a “very serious situation” and marked the first time that a member of a Chapter 9 institution had been found to have committed misconduct.
Five opposition parties, excluding the DA, had asked the Electoral Court to make the recommendation that Tlakula be removed, after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found her guilty of improper conduct and maladministration.
They argued that she had compromised the IEC by failing to disclose a conflict of interest stemming from the fact that her business partner, ANC politician Thaba Mufamadi, had a stake in the company with which the lease was concluded.
Judge Lotter Wepener ruled that Tlakula had not only broken the law but failed to take responsibility for her misconduct.
The National Assembly is now expected to appoint an ad hoc committee to consider the judgment. It can then ask the National Assembly to pass a resolution asking President Jacob Zuma to remove her from her post.
Sapa