Johannesburg - The Black First Land First (BLF) party has taken the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to court over its suspension of the BLF as a political party.
BLF leader Andile Mngxitama says the matter between his party and the IEC has been earmarked for the Durban High Court on April 11.
In 2019, the party was de-registered by the IEC after it lost its appeal at the electoral court in Bloemfontein. BLF had appealed the ruling made by the IEC de-registering it as a political party after BLF reportedly failed to submit its list of candidates for the 2021 local government elections on time.
During the 2021 local government elections, more than 89 candidates were denied the right to stand for election after the IEC suspended BLF's right to stand as a political party, resulting in the party being struck off the ballot paper and de-registered as a political party.
Mngxitama, who wants to challenge the party’s “unlawful” de-registration by the IEC, said the process to de-register the party had impacted more than 89 candidates at the 2021 local government elections.
“The fundamental right to stand for elections was denied to 89 candidates of the BLF in the 2021 local government elections. This exclusion was not the making of the BLF; due to load shedding, the electoral system did not accept the names of the candidates.
“BLF leadership then went to the eThekwini IEC offices to physically deliver relevant information and the documents but were again denied the right to submit.
“Then BLF took the IEC to court in Durban, and Judge Nkosi ruled in favour of BLF. However, the IEC appealed the decision, and the matter was irregularly shifted to Judge Ploos instead of going back to Judge Nkosi. This new judge presided irregularly over the matter that was found in favour of the IEC,” Mngxitama said.
Mngxitama said BLF has been going up and down to get access to court documents and transcripts in its bid to challenge the electoral court ruling that resulted in the party being de-registered and is now ready to finalise the matter in court.
“Now the BLF is ready to lodge another court process to address the injustice suffered by the organisation after 89 candidates of the BLF were irregularly excluded from the 2021 local government elections… this unlawful exclusion of the BLF must be addressed,” he said.
Attempts to obtain comment from the IEC were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The Star