Is MKP's Bid to Delay Local Government Elections a Threat to Democracy?

Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu

The 2024 general election was historic in many ways.

Firstly, for the first time since 1994 there was no outright winner that reached the required fifty-plus-one threshold. Secondly, for the first time, the ANC, which had been the governing party since 1994, obtained less than 50%, managing only 40.18%. Thirdly, these results saw South Africa entering forced coalition politics at national level for the first time since the advent of democracy.

Another issue that stood out was that there was a system’s failure for about two hours. This incident tainted the results of the elections. As many as 26 political parties filled Section 55 objections.

In a nutshell, Section 55 objection refers to instances where parties (or independent candidates) object to any aspect of the voting provided for in Part 1 of Chapter 4 of the Electoral Act; or any aspect of counting provided for in Parts 2 and 3 of Chapter 4 of the Electoral Act.

Once such objections have been filed, the IEC must investigate and release its findings before the official results are announced. Any party (or independent candidate) that still feels aggrieved approaches the Electoral Court. The process can go all the way to the Constitutional Court.

In the case of the 2024 general election, the IEC made two arguments.

The first one was that the two-hour technical glitch only affected the leaderboard but did not impact the results.

The second argument was that the electoral body considered the concerns of the 26 political parties and did not find anything untoward that would necessitate delaying the official announcement of the results on June 2, 2024.

However, the MKP and other political parties were not satisfied. It was for this reason that the MKP delayed the swearing in of its 58 members in the National Assembly. Two years later, the party’s concerns are still alive.

Given this historical context, MKP leader former President Jacob Zuma has hinted that he may call for the postponement of the anticipated Local Government Election (LGE). This call coincides with the country’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitution which was signed into law by President Nelson Mandela on December 10, 1996, in Kliptown, Soweto in the Gauteng province.

Zuma’s statement raises several critical questions.

Firstly, what does this call say about the integrity of the IEC? Did it exhaust all possible avenues to the satisfaction of the aggrieved political parties? Importantly, did the IEC endear itself as a credible electoral body – a status it has enjoyed over the years? If not, what has this institution done to ensure that it regains public trust?

Secondly, what is the frequency of elections (including LGE) in South Africa and what impact would a postponement have on that frequency? Constitutionally, elections in South Africa are held every five years. Only under extreme circumstances would an election be postponed. Is the MKP’s concern strong enough to necessitate a postponement or should the party use other mechanisms to register its disgruntlement?

Thirdly, in the context of April being the country’s Freedom Month and Monday April 27 being Freedom Day, whose freedom weighs more than those of others? Should the MKP’s freedom be respected by addressing its concerns before holding the LGE or should the MKP swallow the bullet to safeguard the freedoms of other South Africans? Where does that leave Chapter 2, Section 9(1) of The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which clearly states that “everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law?”

Fourthly, if the LGE were to be postponed, how would that affect the frequency of general and LGEs in future? Linked to that, how would such postponement affect the work of the IEC as the electoral body?

Fifthly, should the focus be on what transpired in the May 2024 general election which could not be resolved to the satisfaction of the aggrieved political parties, or should energy be invested in drawing lessons from that election in preparation for the upcoming LGE and the 2029 general election? What safeguards have been put in place to ensure that something like what happened in 2024 does not happen again?

All these are very critical questions. They speak to issues of rationality, fairness, honesty, trust (and trust deficit), professionalism, transparency, diligence, mutual respect, consistency, and national pride. Should any of these factors be deficient or non-existent, the country risks reversing the gains of our democracy.

One of the realities of life we cannot run away from is that perceptions sometime weigh more than the reality. This means that once perceptions surface, they must be addressed satisfactorily. Should this fail, trust will inevitably be permanently destroyed.

There are two ways to deal with perceptions. The first one is that those having such perceptions should expound them – which is not usually the case. The second option is for those to whom perceptions are directed to demonstrate that they have no basis. Failure to do so makes such perceptions stick.

In the context of the stand-off between the IEC and the MKP the onus is on the IEC to demonstrate to the nation that nothing untoward happened in the 2024 general election. This is important because the IEC is a national body tasked to run elections. Any trust deficit between it and the electorate would be nemesis to democratic consolidation.

It cannot be denied that the IEC has systems in place to safeguard the integrity of elections. But these systems should be communicated to all political parties and the electorate using various platforms. If South Africans have no knowledge about the existence and efficiency of such systems, they will hold perceptions that would tarnish the integrity of the IEC.

Elections should be contested fairly to ensure that people’s voices are correctly represented, political parties and independent candidates receive fair and correct results, and that the IEC’s integrity is protected. This would portray South Africa positively. 

* Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu is Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.