IEC CEO: court disputes delayed ballot paper printing

the independent electoral commission has confirmed that former president Jacob Zuma's face will appear on the ballot paper for the um party this is despite the body's appeal to the Constitutional Court seeking Clarity on a prior ruling over his eligibility for the May 29 elections IEC CEO is Sai molo who joins us this evening to clarify a few issues for us good evening to you Mr Mulo and thank you very much for your time let's begin with that of the former president Jacob Zuma you're saying that you're ready to print these ballet papers but is that cust in stone right now or could matters change in relation to the MK party well just a few things uh one the we have to start um the printing of the bot papers tomorrow in fact we ought to have started last week and because of um The Electoral Court matters that we had um we are delayed but we can no longer uh accommodate further delays otherwise we are impairing our ability to deliver sufficient ballots to all voting stations so that's that's that's a very important logistical consideration on our part secondly the there are two concepts which are related but not the same one is the candidature um it's the commission is on record having said that um it is seeking uh Clarity uh from the Constitutional Court in relation to its power Visa section 471 e of the Constitution so that matter will be had in time um as regards the design of the ble paper the following principles are at play in the design of the ballot paper that is the use of the full registered name of the party secondly the registered abbreviated name of the party or acronym MH thirdly the logo or the emblem of the party and lastly the use of the photograph of the registered leader of a political party now in respect of MK um early last week we received a not notification in terms of Regulation 9 to regulations on the registration of parties indicating that um Mr kumala is is no longer the leader of the party the leader of the party is now Mr Jacob Zuma now that being the case um and in line with the agreed um the resolved principles by the commission on ballot design Mr Zuma will does be the or rather the photograph of Mr Zuma will be used on the bot in respect of the MK party yeah so perhaps one of the key issues here Mr mamabolo is that of the former president Jacob Zuma's candidature yes you have approached the Constitutional court has that Court responded to you in relation to whether or not it will give you an ear not at this stage uh of course we we have asked for an exp righted hearing but of course the the Constitutional court has to look at the papers decide whether this is a matter worthy of an agent and expedited hearing um so we we we hope that they'll give an indication in the not too distant future sure it does complicate matters let's talk about the the issue around the m K emblem or the MK um logo there are developments in regard to that and the understanding is that thec is now effectively the owner of this name there is a pending uh outcome in relation to that how does that complicate matters for you should the court come back and say the MK cannot use that particular name or local well it's a complicated Affair no doubt about that however the commission is at the point where it has to start the printing of the ballot papers tomorrow failing that we run the great risk of being unable to provide B papers to voting stations so um if for one or the other reason the court makes a call um it is something that we will deal with um at that point but to wait and be in a state of inertia will in fact be compromising um the ability to have a successful election so we are proceeding on the basis of all identifiers registered with the commission you may have answered this a little earlier today at your media briefing about the the wisdom of the IEC going to the Constitutional Court to seek Clarity on Mr Zuma's candidature how do you respond to those who have said that this is ill advised no it is not we we we think is the right course of action to take because as we speak you and I and all South Africans are not in the know as to whether the commission has any role in relation to enforcing section 47 1e of the Constitution that matter requires the highest court with constitutional matter jurisdiction to make a determination two the court uh itself imposed the the 15 uh mon sentence it is the best cause to give us an indication as to whether a remission thereof uh in effect reduces the sentence to 3 months and lastly we are not in the know as as matter asent whether um one of the Commissioners prejudged the issue so it is important that those matters are finally determined so that all of us as a country can be aware what section 471 e actually means and the role of the Commission in its enforcement whether we have a road at all or we don't we we need that determination for this case but also for future elections does it worry you that the Electoral Court unless of course I missed it to this day it has not given the actual full text of its reasoning behind you the IEC losing this matter and now being forced to go to the Constitutional court for clarity have you seen that judgment no no we we have not and the legal principle is that you of course when when you have reasons um all the better but when you appeal you appeal against the orders and not the reasons themselves so whilst helpful they're not absolutely absolutely Ely essential but it helps if you have them now look the the one understand the the Electoral court has been inundated with a number of matters um in fact I've not seen a an electoral Court as busy as this one has been um uh ahead of an election so one understands that the coast load there at the moment is quite substantial and we hope that in in time those resons will be for coming yeah all right on to other matters because today's briefing was also somewhat uh technical but perhaps on matters less technical um some people may not be aware that applications for special votes are open and I'm saying this because I'm one of those who were perhaps very early and I have gotten my confirmation and I know where I'll be voting uh for my special vote when are these open and what will the closing date be it is important that every one of us is aware that those of us who are in special circumstances who have perhaps impair mobility and that's unable to travel to voting stations can apply or they can cause someone to make an application on their behalf um applications opened yesterday the 15th of April and they'll so remain until they close on the 3rd of May so all of us uh who are unable uh due to impact Mobility to travel to voting stations can be visited at home on the two days preceding El um election day and that is the 27th and the 28th of uh may but there are others all again almost anybody who is unable to be at their voting station on Election Day they can apply to go vote at their voting station on the 27th and 28th so it's a it's a very open process for everyone who may not be able to to be at their station on Election Day you have an opportunity if you apply uh to vote on either the 27th or the 28th of May South Africans who live outside of the country for work reasons and any other and I'm speaking with particular reference to the Australian matter given what the Democratic Alliance has had to take you to court for and you are now or you have been forced to make arrangements where are things in that regard well since we've received the um the orders of the Electoral Court we've written to our counterparts at Deco uh inviting them to indicate how they intend uh to implement um that those orders uh because we we the I really has no international relations mandate we rely on the facilities that Deco establishes so we are awaiting we are awaiting their response in that regard but at the same time we we really think that this is a matter which raises important constitutional uh matters as well as U matters of international law because in so far as we we understand honary consoles are not South African citizens they are not on the South African voters role some of them don't hold offices they work uh from their homes because these are essentially business people who are appointed by South Africa to look after their trade interest and so on um so that order does raise a number of difficulties logistically but we want to be guided by Deco as to how uh it may or may not be able to um to to to implement those orders of the constit of the of the Electoral court so we we have asked the Electoral Court firstly to uh provide resonance and after that U uh We've submitted application for leave to appeal um to the Electoral court itself for the matter to be remitted to the sca for hearing finally and very briefly Mr mamabu crucially in this election we're going to have three ballot papers just in the simplest way possible possible explain to South Africans tonight uh what each ballet paper will represent and why it is that South Africans should really not be stressed about it yes the let's put it this way for the elections of the National Assembly there'll be two ballot papers the first ballot paper is to elect repres representatives from a province into the National Assembly and independent candidates will be on a ballot paper for that election the second ballot paper for the National Assembly it's a compensatory proportional representation ballot it's really in um contested by only political parties is meant to ensure that there's in party proportionality in line with the demands of the Constitution that the result of an election must in general be proportional so those are the two ballot papers for the National Assembly the third ballot is for the provincial election for the election of members of provincial legislatures there independent candidates as well as political parties will coae on the ballot paper and that is that thank you very much s m

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Length: 15min 4sec (904 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2024