KUGOMPO CITY- Political parties contesting the upcoming local government elections have pledged to uphold the Electoral Code of Conduct and protect the integrity of South Africa’s democracy.
The commitment was made at a signing ceremony hosted by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) at the East London International Convention Centre in KuGompo City on Tuesday, 06 October.
The IEC invited political parties and media houses to witness the signing, which required participating parties to pledge their commitment to abide by electoral rules and conduct their campaigns responsibly.
Acting director at Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership at Nelson Mandela University, Dr Ongama Mtimka was the guest speaker.Mtimka raised concerns about the influence of criminal interests in South African society and politics, referring to revelations from the Madlanga and Zondo commissions.
“A very interesting thing in our time as per the Madlanga and Zondo Commissions is that the interests that are served may in fact be the interests of the undesirable of the society which is the underworld. They fund others so that they can serve people, which is wrong,” Mtimka said.
He also spoke about the importance of representation in a democratic system, saying it was not practical for every person in a ward to participate directly in every decision.
“We cannot call everybody in a ward to make decisions about what is going to be decided,” he said.
Mtimka said representative structures remained important in communities, including in municipal public participation processes.The programme included the reading of the Electoral Code of Conduct preamble by IEC commissioner Glen Mashinini.
Mashinini reminded political parties and independent candidates that the code was binding on all participants in the elections.“We acknowledge that the Electoral Commission is mandated to ensure free and fair elections of legislative bodies,” Mashinini said.
He said parties and independent candidates were expected to conduct their campaigns with “honesty, integrity, and respect for the truth” and safeguard every voter’s right to make informed electoral choices.
The pledge also commits participants to rejecting disinformation and divisive practices, using technology and public platforms responsibly, and correcting misinformation when it comes to their attention.
The ceremony ended with political parties signing the pledge and committing themselves to peaceful, free and fair elections.
The IEC warned that violations of the Electoral Code of Conduct would have consequences and urged political parties to put the interests of voters and democracy first as the province heads towards the local government elections.
Courtesy of IMAGE: Supplied
Amahle July
Leave a Reply