Cape Town – The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has urgently approached the Constitutional Court to appeal the Electoral Court’s decision allowing former president Jacob Zuma to run for elections.
The IEC argued that Zuma’s conviction and 15-month prison sentence rendered him ineligible to stand for election to the National Assembly until five years after completing his sentence, The Citizen reported.
Chairperson of the IEC, Mosotho Moepya, expressed concern that allowing an unqualified candidate to contest could lead to a disputed outcome.
“If the matter is not finalised before then, there is a real risk that the erroneous finding of the electoral court will produce a disputed outcome because a person who is not qualified would have been allowed to contest in breach of the Constitution,” Times Live quoted chairperson Moepya as saying.
The IEC awaits the Electoral Court’s reasons for its decision and plans to request them, the report said.
Meanwhile, Freedom Under Law (FUL) as called on the Electoral Court to provide reasons for granting Zuma’s appeal against the IEC’s decision, emphasising the importance of understanding the decision’s basis for both the candidate’s eligibility and as a general precedent.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
