Yesterday, the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) released a press statement announcing the launch of a petition to oppose the postponement of the 2021 Local Government Elections.
Last week the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced that it would approach the courts to obtain an order to postpone the elections. This after an IEC report compiled by former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke found that it would not be “reasonably possible” to hold free and fair elections.
The IRR challenged the report in a letter to the IEC, arguing that it would be possible to hold free and fair elections in October.
According to the IRR, “140 countries across the world had held elections during the pandemic without these polls causing a spike in infections, and, moreover, … medical evidence indicated that more lives could be at risk were the election to be postponed to February 2022, as this could well coincide with a fourth wave of infections.”
The IRR said that aside from the scientific facts, we needed to remember that South Africa’s democracy is still young, and that with our history of disenfranchisement it is crucial that we protect our right to vote.
Said the IRR: “Over and above the scientific arguments, South Africa’s democracy is still in its infancy, and – especially in the light of the living memory of the disenfranchisement of the majority of South Africans – it is critical that the country sustain its constitutional commitment to the primary mechanism of holding the government to account, especially when the government has shown itself to be so willing to evade accountability.”
IRR Campaign Officer Duwayne Esau said that we must be wary of undermining our Constitution, as countries which have done this in the past turned into authoritarian states.
“Countries who give up their freedoms for safety often end up with neither. Throughout history we have seen how countries who subvert their constitutions by postponing elections devolve into authoritarian states. Postponing the election would, no doubt, suit the ANC and its partners, but I am sure I speak for all freedom-loving South Africans when I say it does not suit us and we will not stand for it.”
You can read the full press statement here.
You can add your voice to the IRR’s petition and help them fight for your right to vote here.