The chief electoral officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Sy Mamabolo has shot down claims that their funders – the “taxpayers” – have a sway over its decision to challenge former president Jacob Zuma’s eligibility to be a member of Parliament.
The IEC has recently approached the Constitutional Court seeking a legal order to have Zuma removed from the list to Parliament and declaring him unfit to serve in the National Assembly.
This is after the Electoral Court last month ruled that Zuma would appear on the ballot for the elections, representing the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party.
The court’s decision was based on the fact that Zuma could not appeal the judgment of the apex court, which sentenced him to jail for contempt of court.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison without an option of a fine for refusing to appear before the Zondo Commission into State Capture that probed allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud in the public sector.
The IEC briefed the media on the general state of readiness for the 2024 national and provincial elections on May 29 in Centurion on Wednesday.
In a brief interview with , Mamabolo maintained that they had no external funders other than the government through its tax base, adding that the commission was not biased towards anyone, including Zuma.
This is after IEC commissioner Janet Love, who is a former ANC NEC member and MP, said Zuma did not qualify to be in Parliament.
“The government funds us to carry out our constitutional and statutory mandate.
“The IEC is not biased, it carries out the constitutional provisions and ensures that everybody meets the matters or rather everybody operates by the provisions as well as the law,” he explained.
Mamabolo said there was nothing biased about their decision to go to the ConCourt.
“There’s nothing biased against anyone, we have got to ensure that anyone is compliant to law, which is why the commission went to Constitutional Court,” he said.
The apex court has since reserved the judgment on the IEC and Zuma matter. It also dismissed Zuma’s application to have six judges recused from the appeal case by the IEC.
Meanwhile, the ConCourt has asked both Zuma and the IEC to submit arguments in respect of the alleged bias of Love against the former statesman.
They have until this afternoon (Tuesday) to respond to the court.
Politics
