Johannesburg - IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo says the local government elections can only be postponed beyond the 90-day election window if the Constitutional Court allows for such a remedy.
Mamabolo was speaking on Monday at the inquiry chaired by retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
The inquiry is holding hearings on whether the IEC can hold free, fair and safe elections on October 27. Its report will be filed by July 21.
Mamabolo was asked by Justice Moseneke if was it possible to postpone the local government elections.
The IEC had asked for a postponement of by-elections at the electoral court last year because of lockdown level 5.
Mamabolo said technically it was possible to postpone October's elections. He said this was possible under two scenarios.
The first would be approaching the Constitutional Court seeking an extension outside of the 90 days in which the IEC is legally bound to hold elections.
The law stipulates that elections should be held every five years. This period ends in November.
Mamabolo said the IEC would have to give a detailed timeline and plans to motivate for such an "extraordinary" request.
Mamabolo said another measure was a constitutional amendment and that would fall to Parliamentarians.
He stressed that the commission would study the recommendations of the inquiry.
The IEC has also explained that in preparing for elections it was following its constitutional mandate.
"We are technically preparing for an election because of the constitutional requirement. Not that we are saying an election should go ahead on any account. Once the report is before the commission, then we will study it," he said.
Mamabolo said the IEC had been told in April by the Department of Health that 16 million people would be vaccinated by October, according to planned guidelines.
In its planning processes, the IEC has also considered several solutions to make voting safer.
Mamabolo said the addition of special voting days has been discussed but that would be largely dependent on additional funding from National Treasury. Additional funding would be used to pay staff, and to for renting storage and tents for temporary structures.
Mamabolo said that extra voting days would also need to be planned in terms of voting in age groups.
Moseneke also heard from health experts on the state of the pandemic so far.
Dr Aslam Dasoo from the Progressive Health Forum stressed the danger of political rallies. He said such gatherings could pose a threat for potential super-spreaders events.
He pointed to the EFF march held on Friday and the Ace Magashule political gathering held outside the High Court in Joburg last week, as examples of events that posed a danger.
"I think the total prohibition (of gatherings) will have an impact on the risk matrix. We do not know what the actual situation at the time will be and whether they produce risk," Dasoo said.
He stressed that no one could say with certainty whether it would be safe to hold elections by October.
Dasoo said if the country had begun its vaccination programme earlier, then more people would have been vaccinated by now.
Political Bureau