Labour Party slams ‘baffling’ ConCourt ruling on postponement of election
The Labour Party has labelled Friday morning’s Constitutional Court ruling on the postponement of the elections as “baffling”.
The Court dismissed an application by three news political parties for direct access and to be added to the ballot papers for the upcoming elections.
The African Congress for Transformation, the mining union Amcu's Labour Party, and the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats have accused the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of unfairly excluding them from participating in the national and provincial elections.
The three parties wanted the submission window to reopen and to postpone the May 29 elections.
However, the apex court ruled that the parties failed to demonstrate sufficient grounds for a postponement and that delaying elections would be costly.
The Labour Party's secretariat, Krister Janse van Rensburg, says they are awaiting the reasons for the judgment before making further comments.
"For the apex court of this country to disregard our application, which was supported by nineteen other political parties, is almost unbelievable,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ace Magashule's African Congress for Transformation has welcomed the ruling, saying they have to respect the highest court in the land.
"We are disappointed with the fact that we did not get what we actually expected. We will not appeal the ruling because we are contesting the elections,” said ACT spokesperson Mohau Khumalo.
"The court's judgment only means we won't be on the third ballot, which is the regional ballot. We are on the national ballot in all provinces. We are on the provincial ballot in all provinces except in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape.
"Our way forward, we will continue campaigning. We know that victory is certain in Free State, the Eastern Cape, North West, your KZN and Gauteng.”
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