Scheduled for Wednesday 12 November 2020, the by-elections will take place
in 95 wards across 55 municipalities across mzansi following the
postponement in March due to the Covid-19.
Mashaba is aggrieved by the decision taken by the IEC and said it’s a
‘smear campaign to tarnish his name and his party’, mentioning there were
elements behind all these, without going into details.
The bone of contention, according to the Commission, Action SA’s logo is
too close to that of another party (Party of Action); and it features the
SA flag in its symbol.
Sy Mamabolo- IEC chief electoral officer- said there is no possibility that
ASA will be participating because nominations closed on October 19 and the
ballot papers have already been printed.
Mamabolo said the party was “aggravated” by the decision and that it has
appealed the decision at the Electoral Commission.
More than 20 000 voters have been approved to cast a special vote, which
will begin tomorrow. Overall, at least 600 000 people are registered to
vote.
There are 455 voting stations of which 51% are in schools, 14% are in
places of worship and 35% are in other structures.
The by-elections are contested by 40 political parties with a total of 444
candidates certified as contestants. This includes 19 independent
candidates. Men make up 69% of candidates, with women making up the
remaining 31%.
On Covid-19 measures, Mamabolo says voters who show signs of symptoms will
be accommodated “not lose their right to vote”, and measures in place
should be sufficient to avoid transmission, having spent more than R3m on
Personal Protective Equipments countrywide.
Voting is scheduled to take place between 7am and 9pm.
Image (Livid Action SA President and founder Herman Mashaba following the
rejection by IEC to register his party for 2020 by-elections).
