THE organisation Defend our Democracy said political parties must be held accountable for casting doubt on Mzansi’s electoral processes.
The election-watch organisation appealed to political parties to refrain from casting unwarranted doubt on the country’s 2024 electoral processes and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa.
Defend our Democracy spokesman Andries Sibanyoni said that by doing so, they risk discrediting the elections before they have even started.
The organisation launched its civil society election observation campaign in November 2023, and it aims to get civil society organisations in South Africa to collectively observe and pronounce on the integrity of the electoral processes.
“The campaign is politically non-biased. In it within this context, that we have noted with growing concern the statements of some political parties in the lead up to the elections.
“Undermining of the IEC must be condemned; certain comments made on uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party platforms particularly, have been extremely worrying. These include threats against the IEC, the discrediting of its integrity and an allusion to violence if the party’s electoral expectations are unmet.
“At an MK event recently, a pastor addressing the crowd threatened to close SA for good if MK didn’t receive a two-thirds majority. The pastor stated they want to say to the IEC that it is better to do it the right way, or they are coming for it,” said Sibanyoni.
He also said that the Democratic Alliance (DA) and African National Congress (ANC) narratives is also a cause for concern.
Sibanyoni said parties should also be aware that spinning dangerous narratives around the elections potentially being captured or meddled with by foreign factors does little to boost public trust in democratic processes.
“Without providing evidence publicly, President Cyril Ramaphosa recently warned ANC members of foreign interference in the vote. This prompted the IEC to reassure the electorate that the manual voting and counting processes in South Africa limited the scope for meddling but added that it is fortifying its systems.
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“The DA’s letter to the USA’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, asking for foreign assistance for domestic observation work and voter education is similarly unhelpful in this climate. The same can be said for the ANC’s retort that it would consider bringing its friends to observe the elections,” said Sibanyoni.
“Defend our Democracy implores political parties not to use the issue of observation work to play global politics. Political parties have every right to constructively critique the IEC.”
He said they also have the right to take matters concerning the conduct of other parties to the Electoral Court before the elections.
He further said parties would do well to let the IEC do its job, conduct voter education work among their constituencies, leave civil society to do its election observation and awareness campaigns and stop peddling narratives or undertaking action that does more harm than good for democracy.
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