MK, BOSA, Rise Mzansi, ATM among parties unhappy with election timetable, want meeting with IEC

JOHANNESBURG - Over ten political parties, mostly new formations including Build One SA (BOSA) the Umkhonto weSizwe Party and Rise Mzansi, have written to the Electoral Commission (IEC) asking for an urgent meeting over their dissatisfaction with the election timetable.

Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement (UDM) is also among the parties who’ve all raised concerns that they believe will deeply affect the integrity and inclusivity of the 29 May polls.

READ: Elections 2024: Many voters undecided on who to support  

In a letter, which Eyewitness News has seen, the organisations request to discuss the elections timetable, signature requirements and identity documents, the deadline for the registration fee as well as voter education.

On Monday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) published its timetable of deadlines for candidates.

The UDM and African Transformation Movement (ATM), along with several new players on the political scene, have raised concerns over a compressed election timetable.

They’ve argued that the allocated time doesn’t allow them to fully meet the requirements as set out by the IEC. They have also labelled the issue of having to meet a set threshold of signatures as a barrier to entry for emerging parties. They say this not only impedes the principles of a multi-party system but will have a dire impact on new and smaller parties.

"Including the confusion of which forms and the threshold, provincial threshold and signatures are required, all these things we feel and the way and approach and shape that it taking is not necessarily going to make it free and fair," said the MK party’s Nhlamulo Ndlela.

The parties proposed that a meeting with the IEC should take place within the next 48 hours.