African National Congress v Electoral Commission

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Judge: Mthiyane JA, Ms S Abro and Ms S Moodley (members)
• Judgment Date: 09 December 2010
• Docket Number: 001/2008
• Hearing Date: 06 December 2010
• Court: Electoral Court

Mthiyane JA, Ms S Abro and Ms S Moodley (members):

[1]

Owing to the time constraints and the urgency of the matter the court (Mthiyane JA with the members Ms S Abro and Ms S Moodley concurring), having considered the written submissions made by the parties made Orders allowing the intervening parties to intervene and dismissing the applicant's application.

In what follows I set out the reasons.

[2]

The applicant, the African National Congress launched an application initially in the Cape High Court and subsequently in this Court seeking orders -

2.1

reviewing and setting aside the decisions of the representatives of the respondent ('the Commission') taken on 27 November 2008, refusing to accept and process the applicant's nomination for its candidates for the local government by-election to be held on 10 December 2008 in wards 33, 34, 35, 45, 52, 75, 85 and 88 in the City of Cape Town ('the City') and wards 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the Cederberg Municipality ('the Cederberg');

2.2

directing the Commission to accept and process the nomination forms which were submitted by the applicant on 27 November 2008 in respect of the above wards in the City of Cape Town and the Cederberg

2011 JDR 0056 p3

Mthiyane JA, Ms S Abro and Ms S Moodley (members)

Municipality.

[3]

The applicant was required to comply with the requirements for the submission of nomination forms which are set out in s 17(1) of Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000. The section provides that a person may contest the election as a ward candidate 'only if' he or she is nominated on a prescribed form and that form is submitted to the office of the Commission's local representatives by not later than a date stated in the time table for the election.

[4]

On 19 November 2008 – as required in s 11(1) of the Municipal Electoral Act – the Commission published a time table for the by-elections - the timetable required registered political parties to submit nomination forms of candidates by 17h00 on 27 November 2008 to the Commission's duly appointed local representatives for that municipal area.

[5]

The timetable provides in clause 1 thereof that an act required in terms of the Municipal Electoral Act to be performed by not later than a date in the timetable must be performed before 17h00 on that date, unless specified otherwise.

[6]

Clause 5 of the timetable expressly requires that by not later than 27 November 2008 at 17h00, the...