The most recent local government by-election results (from elections held on 21 July) should at the very least concern political strategists of the governing ANC. A few interesting trends have been confirmed by these results.
First, the ANC’s support amongst colored voters in the Western Cape – even in rural areas – has collapsed dramatically. The ANC [...]
Posts under ‘Electoral system’
On by-election results
On by-elections and disillusionment with the ANC
Please excuse me while I crunch the latest by-election result numbers – I love this geeky kind of stuff. I decided to have a look at the results after the ANC seemed to have gotten a big fright this week, losing two by-election in the Western Cape to the DA.
The most interesting results came out [...]
Privacy? Security? Oh ple-e-ease!
Sometimes a politician says something so daft and indefensible that one cannot but wonder whether he or she thinks ordinary voters are complete and utter fools. Maybe this does not surprise many people because they have come to expect that politicians will lie to them. But being an eternal optimist – one of the few [...]
Electoral system in need of a change
Tomorrow 400 members of the National Assembly will be sworn in and will take up their seats in Parliament. They will then elect a new President who – if everything goes according to plan (one never knows!) – will head the Executive for the next five years. These MP’s will swear (or solemnly affirm – accommodating [...]
The Scorpions saga continues, but to no avail?
Hugh Glenister is lodging yet another court application to try and have the legislation abolishing the Scorpions overturned. After reading the papers submitted to the Court I am rather skeptical that this new application will be successful. Glenister’s main argument is that the legislation was passed because the Scorpions “has been too effective when it [...]
IEC in contempt of court?
What is going on at the Electoral Commission (as the IEC is called in the Consgitution)? They will spend almost R1 billion this year to deliver a free and fair election to all South Africans. One would think with this money they could pay someone to design the necessary forms to comply with the law [...]
Limited victory for voters abroad
The Constitutional Court today handed down two judgments which will allow registered voters who will be out of the country on election day to cast a vote in the National Assembly election. However, unregistered voters will not be able to vote in the 2009 election, although such voters might still bring an application later to [...]
Defending the indefensible… and then not.
I loved the introductory paragraph to a story in today`s Business Day on the Constitutional Court case about the right of South Africans abroad to vote:
By the time the judges of the Constitutional Court had finished with them, all the parties in yesterday’s case — about the right of South Africans living abroad to vote — [...]
Citizens abroad to vote – if registered….
The Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court today declared invalid section 33(1)(b) and parts of section 33(1)(e) of the Electoral Act, and ordered the Electoral Commission to do all things necessary to ensure that all categories of citizens absent from the Republic of South Africa who are registered as voters will be entitled in [...]
Yengeni, Winnie not eligible for Parly?
The preliminary list of ANC candidates for election to the National Assembly was leaked to the newspapers this week. Two of the names that appear very high up on that list are Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tony Yengeni. Questions are now asked about whether these stallwarts of the national democratic revolution are eligible for selection to [...]
