Johannesburg- Herman Mashaba’s political party, ActionSA has lost the case against the Independent Electoral Commission on Friday after the Electoral Court ruling.
This comes after ActionSA had taken the IEC to court to argue that the omission of its name on the ballot paper would disadvantage it during the local government elections to be held on 1 November.
The party had demanded the court to force the IEC to include its name on the ballot paper in order for voters to recognize ActionSA when they vote.
However, the party’s attempt to have its name included on the ballot was not entertained by the electoral court.
ActionSA that is contesting six municipalities local elections in the country has its logo on the ballot, while its name is not mentioned.
The IEC told the court that Mashaba’s party chose not to fill in the space provided for an abbreviation of the party name when it had registered to be one of the parties to contest local government elections.
After the party’s attempt to compel IEC to include its acronym was sneezed at by the court, Mashaba released a statement saying that he was disappointed by the court ruling.
“Given the nature of the application, the Electoral Court will only provide written reasons at a later date. While we are disappointed by the outcome, ActionSA is dedicated to the rule of law, and we respect the outcome of the court and the experience of the jurists who presided over the matter. While our focus has been unflatteringly on the campaign, our attention now turns to the extraordinary measures we will implement to ensure that voters are able to locate ActionSA on the ballot paper,” said Mashaba on the statement.
To read more political news and views from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
