The Western Cape government has announced plans to challenge a Constitutional Court application by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to postpone the October 27th municipal elections.
On Tuesday morning, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said a postponement risks setting a dangerous precedent whereby suffrage, and related rights, can be deferred.
Adding that under the constitution, the matter must be brought before Parliament and not the judiciary.
“We must ensure that our elections continue ahead as planned, as this is in the best interest of our democracy,” Winde said.
The Western Cape government will be opposing the application alongside the Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum.
The IEC approached the apex court seeking to have the 2021 local government elections postponed to February next year after the Moseneke report recommended that the elections be postponed due to the rising Covid-19 infections.
The Constitutional Court is expected to hear the matter on Friday, August 20.