Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) CEO Sy Mamabolo said on Tuesday that there is no basis for IEC Commissioner Janet Love to step down from her position, as there is no substantive evidence establishing misconduct on her side.

Mamabolo was giving a media briefing on the key aspects of the election timetable.

Last week, former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party called for Love’s immediate resignation, warning that should she fail to resign in seven days, the party would pursue “all available avenues”  to remove her, including approaching the courts.

“Janet Love, in an unprecedented move publicly declared nationally that President Zuma would not be eligible and couldn’t be included in the MK Party’s Parliamentary candidate list,” the party noted.

The party accused Love of being “highly vested” in the outcomes of the May 29 elections, saying she cannot be trusted.

The MK Party justified its call for Love’s removal by noting her “obnoxious behaviour” in January, before a public objection was lodged regarding the eligibility of Zuma to participate in the Parliamentary elections.

Mamabolo said the commission wants clarity in its case, in which the recent Electoral Court judgment saw Zuma win his appeal against the IEC’s decision to exclude him from being able to stand as an MK Party parliamentary candidate.

The IEC has approached the Constitutional Court to appeal the Electoral Court’s judgment on this matter.

“With respect to the Constitutional Court appeal, it is preferable to lodge an appeal when you have reasons because then you can follow the reasoning of the court against which whose orders you are appealing. But when an appeal is lodged, it is lodged against the orders of court not against the judgment and we have orders in this case, and on the basis of those orders we think that there is a need for clarity on a number of issues,” said Mamabolo.

He said questions had to be answered for the sake of clarity for everybody in respect of the immediate case, but also in respect of future elections.

He also noted that the commission was concerned about the safety of people and the safety of property during elections. He explained that an election should never be an opportunity for people to lose lives nor an opportunity for people’s properties to be lost.

“…it is rather an opportunity for the voter to record their political choices in an election that is arranged in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law. The security agencies in the country are responsible to secure all of us,” he said.

ELECTION PREPARATIONS

Meanwhile, he said last week the Commission issued certificates to the 14 892 candidates who will contest 887 seats in the forthcoming elections.

Nominations of candidates closed on March 8 and following verification processes and objections 70 political parties, and 11 independent candidates were published as final contestants in the upcoming May 29 elections.

He explained that the list of candidates reflected that 58.14%, or 8 658, were male, with female candidates at 41.86%, or 6 234.

Candidates in the age category 40 to 49 are the majority at 4 361, followed by the 3 708 in the 50 to 59 age category and the 3 406 in the 30 to 39 age group.

“Notably, there are 15 candidates who at 18 years are also first-time voters. Of the 15, nine are female and six are male. These candidates are spread across eight political parties,” he said.

Mamabolo explained that voters who would be away from their voting districts on election day, may give a Section 24A notice of their intention to vote at another identified voting station by no later than May 17.

He reminded voters that they may only vote at a voting station at which they are registered.