The Electoral Court has reviewed and set aside the Independent Electoral Commission’s decision not to allow the casting of special votes at consulates headed by honorary consuls.
This came after the DA filed an application in response to complaints from South Africans residing in Perth, who sought the opening of the honorary consulate as a voting facility.
However, the high commission in Canberra said the Perth consulate could not be utilised for voting as it was “not headed by transferred staff from South Africa”.
The official opposition launched the application when the electoral body did not heed their request in February for the inclusion of all embassies, high commissions and consulates as voting stations for the 2024 elections.
The DA argued that the current Electoral Act allowed South Africans abroad to cast their votes at any embassy, high commission or consulate.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the Electoral Court said the word “consulate” in the Electoral Court included a consulate headed by an honorary consul.
“To the extent that the Electoral Commission made a decision not to allow the casting of social votes at consulates headed by honorary consuls, the decision is reviewed and set aside,” read the order.
The court did not award costs.
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said the Electoral Court ruling was an enormous victory for the more than 40 000 South Africans living in Perth as well as other cities where the judgment will be effective.
“The DA will monitor the IEC to ensure the practical implementation of this decision, as well as to confirm the number and location of all additional voting stations,” Zille said.
The IEC confirmed that it received two orders from the Electoral Court – the interpretation of the word consulate to include honorary consulates and the candidacy of former president Jacob Zuma in the May 29 elections.
It said it has taken note of the contents of both orders.
“Furthermore, we have noted that the orders were issued without reasoned judgment. In order to understand the basis of the conclusions reached in both matters, it is important that reasons are provided. We will accordingly request the Electoral Court to hand down reasons for the orders made,” it said.
“Naturally the commission is taking legal advice on both matters and will chart a way forward based on such advice as well as reasoned judgments that it may receive, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future,” said the IEC.
Cape Times