You know elections are around the corner when suddenly we see the political elites venturing into areas they would not normally know existed. It is a well-rehearsed game played ahead of elections without fail.
The nation goes to the polls again on November 1; this time to elect local governments. With the date cast in stone, political parties have been jostling for attention, announcing dates on which they will launch their manifestos in a bid to woo voters.
It’s a pity that more often than not, the declared intent sounds similar to the ones used during previous elections. There is little innovation, as if what all parties simply do is go to the rubbish bin and dust off the same old, tired promises. It is hardly stuff to get the electorate excited about elections.
Of course, we don’t encourage the growing disinterest many a voter is showing because the universal suffrage we all enjoy today came at a high price, written in the blood of those who gave their lives for the cause.
We are glad too that despite the near-false start after the recommendation by retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke that elections be postponed, the polls are well and truly back on track.
That was duly affirmed when the Constitutional Court threw out the bid by the DA to stop the reopening of the registration of candidates after the majority party, the ANC, initially made a mess of registering all its candidates by the initial deadline.
The ANC had earlier gone to court seeking that the IEC reopen registration, only to withdraw their application. The IEC had argued at the same time and gone the legal route trying to follow Moseneke’s recommendations, but that bid too failed. However, with a new date set for polling, the door was left open for parties such as the ANC to complete that which they couldn’t do the first time around.
As expected, those parties that met the initial registration deadline were always going to complain about that, and duly did, with the DA going to court. It lost and now here we are.
Politicking will always be with us but what matters is when the centre that is the IEC holds and does things by the book. That muster was passed when the apex court ruled on the matter and it is now water under the bridge.
Of course, there will always be those casting aspersions when decisions go against them. We are glad that at the end of it all the independence and integrity of the IEC was affirmed.
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