The Constitutional Court has dismissed that application by the IEC, the Independent Electoral Commission to postpone the 27th of October, local government elections.

The court issued typically its ruling on this application by the Independent Electoral Commission.

You may recall the IEC report that was submitted by former Deputy Chief Justice diphthongs which had asked that the elections be postponed to February 2022.

But the constitutional court has rejected the application and insists that the elections must take place between these two dates which are the 27th of October, and the 1st of November.

Explanation of the Constitution court on IEC ruling.

Now the 1st of November is an interesting day because, actually, according to the law and the Electoral law, elections must be held 90 days after the expiration of the current term of the five-year term of the counsellors in all the municipalities expired in August.

Therefore, 90 days from that very day, expires on the 1st of November.

This means that the IEC has no choice but to go ahead and conduct the election.

However, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is the one who proclaims the date of the elections.

Interestingly the court is declaring that a current proclamation of the 27th of October being the date of the elections is unconstitutional.

They have ordered that since they’ve made this order, the election should take place between the 27th of October and the 1st of November.

IEC is mandated to do the following:

IEC must within three days, determine whether it’s possible to have voter registration, between now and the election dates.

Once they’ve done so, then they must inform the minister, and only then can the minister proclaim the date of the elections, but she is prescribed to do that within this period of the to the 27th of October, and the first of November.

(1/1) Today, 3 September 2021 at 16h30: For reasons to follow, the Constitutional Court, by majority decision, handed down an order in Electoral Commission v Minister of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. pic.twitter.com/ZVxuCRLzYP

— Constitutional Court (@ConCourtSA) September 3, 2021

Democratic Alliance DA, and ex-Mayor of Cape Town had earlier called the attention of the public on what she described as a constitutional crisis ongoing between ANC and Concourt.

1) Die Burger this morning doesn't mince its words. In its headline it suggests that the ANC must have received inside information from the Constitutional Court, which led to the ANC withdrawing its case before the electoral court to re-open candidate registration.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021

2) The context is this. If the ConCourt enables the IEC to postpone the election, then it presses the "re-set" button and it issues a new timetable, which will enable the ANC to re-register its candidates. So the ANC would not have to get permission from the Elec Court.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021

3) The ANC's withdrawal from the Electoral Court indicates that they have been tipped off that the IEC's application to postpone the election was successful. If information is leaking from the Concourt to the ANC, it is nothing short of an Constitutional crisis.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021

4) If this is so, cadre deployment will have destroyed every institution, right up to the ConCourt, turning them into instruments of ANC power abuse, rather than protectors of the people against ANC power abuse. That is the crisis we are facing now. SAns must wake up.

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) September 1, 2021