19 January 2006
Acceptances of party lists and nominations of candidates for the 2006
Municipal Elections at local offices of the Electoral Commission (IEC) will
close at 17h00 today.
Notices of the intention to contest the election, party lists, appropriate
deposits in the form of bank guaranteed cheques, acceptance of the nomination
by each candidate and certified copies of the ID page containing the photograph
and ID number of the candidate have to be submitted before the deadline
today.
Municipal Electoral Officers (MEOs) and their staff have already started
with the process of uploading information on to the IEC computer system. The
details of all nominations will be verified and accompanying documentation such
as certified copies of personal identity documents will be checked.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Adv Pansy Tlakula, said so far the process has
been fairly smooth with only minor hiccups. In Vryburg [Naledi] supporters of
one of the political parties have been blockading the local IEC office since
yesterday in protest against candidates on its party list for that
municipality. The South African Police Service (SAPS) removed the protestors
but this morning they returned and at present the office is closed.
Some parties have paid their deposits centrally for all the elections that
they are going to contest which meant that their submissions were not
accompanied by the required bank guaranteed cheque. In some instances local IEC
offices were not aware of this and did not accept the submission. The situation
was rectified this morning and offices will accept all documents with or
without payment until 17h00 today. Verification of the submission and deposits
will be done afterwards.
Enquiries:
Lydia Young
Media Liaison Officer
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Electoral Commission
19 January 2006
