Party hopefuls start election ball rolling
March 01, 2004 Edition -1
Themba wa Sepotokele and Khathu Mamaila
It's all systems go for the country's third democratic elections.
All the political parties that have registered with the Independent Electoral Commission for the April 14 polls have intensified their campaigns.
The number contesting election has almost doubled, from 18 in 1999 to 35.
But only 11 parties will contest the election nationally and in all nine provinces.
These are the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo), African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Independent Democrats (ID), New National Party (NNP), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) and United Democratic Movement (UDM).
Three parties - Keep it Straight and Simple Party, The Organisation Party and the United Front - will contest the elections nationally.
Seven parties will contest the elections nationally and one or more provinces, while 14 parties will contest elections in one or more provinces only.
IEC deputy chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya told The Star yesterday that all political parties would be signatories of the electoral code of conduct.
He said three parties - the Sindawonye Progressive Party (SPP) from KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga, the Peace and Development Party and the Liberal Party - had failed to meet the Friday 5pm deadline to register. He said a delegation from the SPP was sent back after they came with R30 000 cash instead of a bank-guaranteed cheque.
"The Peace and Development Party allege they spoke to someone from the IEC on the phone, saying they can deposit the money into an account. As for the Liberal Party, they just came late," Moepya said.
While the outcome of an election cannot be predicted, at least four provinces will have new premiers after the April 14 election.
Three premiers - Manne Dipico of Northern Cape, Popo Molefe of North West and Limpopo's Ngoako Ramatlhodi - have served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution. They are on the list of candidates as MPs.
Free State Premier Winkie Direko, who has served only one term, is also on the national list.
Most of the cabinet members, including Dullah Omar, who has been seriously ill, are on the national list. Two-thirds of the candidates are women.
Some ANC leaders have been redeployed from their provinces to the national parliament. These include Gauteng MEC for Finance Jabu Moleketi and Mpumalanga Health MEC Sibongile Manana.
While the redeployment of Moleketi could be to position him for a better post at national level, as he had done well at the provincial level, Manana's movement could be a demotion. She was accused of poor administration in the Mpumalanga Health Department.
Some politicians who attracted bad publicity survived and have made the grade.
These include Steve Mabona and Jackson Mthembu, both MECs in Mpumalanga who made news following allegations of financial irregularities.
