The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has warned political parties that it will take legal action against those who continue to make inflammatory public utterances that seek to undermine the credibility of the electoral body and the electoral process.
The deputy CEO of the IEC, Mawethu Mosery, said they had taken note of the parties making inflammatory public statements that tarnish elections and would engage them on these statements.
At least two parties, the DA and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), have been making public statements that have been seen as undermining the May 29 elections.
The DA has asked Western countries, including the US, to monitor the election, thereby calling into question the credibility of upcoming elections.
It was reported that the DA wrote to the foreign ministers of the G7 countries, the EU and four Nordic states, requesting their help in monitoring the elections, which the DA said could be under threat both domestically and internationally because the ANC was likely to fall below 50% nationally and lose more provinces.
MKP members have been making public threats against the integrity of the elections, saying there will be violence if the party or their preferred candidate for president, former president Jacob Zuma, is not allowed to stand.
It was reported recently that MKP youth leader Bonginkosi Khanyile threatened that there would be no election without Zuma. Khanyile said “all hell will break loose” if Zuma and the newly formed party were not allowed on the ballot paper, come election day.
Khanyile addressed the media on Wednesday in the Johannesburg CBD, where he was commenting on the legal battle with the ANC over the trademark and registration of MKP, the party's list to Parliament and the MKP youth league's future.
He said they were prepared and fearless, and they were willing to lay down their lives if Zuma and the MKP were removed from the ballot paper.
Another party member in KwaZulu-Natal, Visvin Reddy, was seen on social media making threats if the party was not allowed to contest the elections.
Zuma’s candidacy has constitutional complications. The first one is that he has a criminal record after he was sentenced to direct imprisonment for 15 months by the Constitutional Court.
The Constitution states that if you have been handed a 12-month sentence without the option of a fine or if you have been out of prison for less than five years after that sentence, you are not eligible for the position.
Another issue is that Zuma served two terms as president of the country when he led the ANC government.
“The Mercury” understands that there are different schools of thought when it comes to this contentious issue. Some believe that because he was fired before the end of his second term, he is eligible to contest the elections.
Mosery said they were aware of the remarks by Khanyile and others made by MKP members.
“We do not like to engage parties through the media as they could see it as us de-campaigning them. We are quite aware of the remarks that have been made by the parties that seek to undermine the electoral process.
“We will begin to engage them, write to them and sit down with them and engage them on these issues. If that fails, we do have the option of seeking the intervention of the courts,” he said.
Pressed about Zuma's eligibility after serving two terms, Mosery said the Office of the Speaker would be best placed to comment on this as it is Parliament that elects the president. Attempts to contact Parliament were unsuccessful.
Legal expert Mpumelelo Zikalala said Zuma’s candidacy faced challenges.
“Remember that if you have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to more than 12 months without the option of a fine, you cannot be a member of the National Assembly, and if you cannot be a member of the National Assembly, you cannot be a president because the National Assembly elects presidents.”
He said this was the case for Zuma and the only argument would be around remission that he was granted – whether it had reduced the sentence from 15 months to less than 12 months.
“They can go to court on that,” said Zikalala.
On the issue of Zuma having served two terms with the ANC, he said: “I stand corrected on this ... but I believe the issue will be that if one wants to serve three consecutive terms, that might be an issue, but if there is a break in-between, I believe the Constitution allows for that.”
Attempts to speak to the MKP leadership on Thursday were unsuccessful.
The Mercury