Pretoria - The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen, has welcomed the judgement of the Constitutional Court, which clears the way for the 2016 Local Government Elections to take place as scheduled.
Minister Van Rooyen, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Local Government Elections, said: "The judgment strengthens our constitutional democracy by affirming the right of millions of South Africans to vote as well as the importance of the rule of law and the integrity of our electoral processes.
“We have confidence in our courts and we knew that as impartial and final arbiters on all legal questions in our country, the Constitutional Court would provide clarity in this case."
The judgment paves the way for local government elections to proceed on 3 August 2016 using the voters’ roll certified by the Electoral Commission (IEC) following the proclamation of the election date by Minister van Rooyen.
In the judgment, the court gave the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) 18 months to rectify the voters’ roll through the addition of voters' addresses, where are available.
Minister Van Rooyen called on all registered voters to exercise their hard won democratic rights on 3August 2016 to choose the local government representatives of their choice.
The Minister committed government to work with the IEC and all other stakeholders to ensure that the judgement of the Constitutional Court is fully implemented. – SAnews.gov.za
