DURBAN - UNIVERSITY of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) constitutional law expert David Hulme said the Constitutional Court ruling on Friday for the local government elections to go ahead was the only way to go as not holding the elections next year would have set a dangerous precedent.
According to the academic, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) should have started planning for the local government elections last year when the country was placed under lockdown as its mandate was to ensure free and fair elections. “There could not have been any other decision from the Constitutional Court, because if the ruling was to say the polls should be held next year, that would have undermined the law which says the elections should be every five years. So I am not at all surprised by the ruling,” said Hulme.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal had been pinning its hopes on the apex court to rule in favour of the elections to be held at a later date, possibly next year so that it could sort out its candidates’ list which has been a source of contention in many of its regions, especially eThekwini and Moses Mabhida.
Spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the ruling party had noted the ruling. “All outstanding disputes will be attended to by the appeal committee until they are concluded,” he said yesterday.
Both the DA and the IFP have welcomed the ruling and readiness to contest the elections.
THE MERCURY