Court reserves judgment in Tlokwe case

Judge Kenneth Nthiyane said he realised the by-elections were scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and that the court might give an order before then.

 

It would give reasons for the order at a later stage. The court was hearing an application by five independent candidates who were disqualified from taking part in the by-elections by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

 

The IEC disqualified six independent candidates, all of them former African National Congress councillors, from participating, saying they did not meet the required threshold of nominations.

 

According to the requirements, 50 ward residents whose names appear on the voters' roll, need to nominate a candidate. One of the disqualified candidates, Johannes Johnson, of Ward 13, had since been permitted to take part, after it was discovered that he had a valid nomination. Gerhard Ackerman, for the five, submitted that the case was unique. "They relied on the word of respondent two [IEC official John Makodi] to let them know if anything was wrong," submitted Ackerman.

 

He told the court Makodi had not told the independent candidates that there was anything wrong with their applications. "He checked their documents." Ackerman submitted that Makodi, on his own version, accepted documents from the applicants. "But now he denies. He had not looked at it," he said. Ackerman said there was some indication of a possible irregularity in the facts of the case. "There is not going to be fair election," he said.

 

Ackerman asked the three judges to postpone the elections in the "interest of the bigger picture for Tlokwe". Ackerman also suggested a further investigation into the Makodi's conduct. Paul Kennedy, for the IEC, submitted it could not be expected from an IEC official to do everything for a prospective candidate. "They are not there to spoon-feed," he said. He said if an IEC official helped some candidates and not others, this would amount to moving to the "slippery slope" of partiality.

 

Kennedy argued that the new councillors' applications did not meet all the set requirements. Kennedy asked the court to reject the applicants' argument that the IEC official had to help them with their applications. "There is no legal obligation," he said, adding that the application papers were incomplete. The ANC expelled 14 councillors in July after a provincial disciplinary committee found them guilty of misconduct for participating in a motion of no confidence against the then Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle. Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink replaced Maphetle.

 

While the ANC's national disciplinary committee later said it had overturned the provincial disciplinary committee's decision, the party said none of the 14 councillors was on its list of candidates for the by-election. It was reported in August that eight of the councillors registered independently with the IEC for the by-election.

                 

-Sapa