IEC warns Parliament that failure to appoint new commissioners by December will impact its planning for 2026 polls
The terms of three of its five commissioners will come to an end in November.
Electoral Commission (IEC) Chairperson Mosotho Moepya announces the 2024 election results on 2 June 2024 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The Electoral Commission (IEC) has warned Parliament that failure to appoint new commissioners by December will impact its planning for next year’s local government elections.
The terms of three of its five commissioners will come to an end in November.
The commission said it was currently excluding Commissioner Nomsa Masuku from decision-making while she faces fraud charges unrelated to the IEC.
The extended deadline for nominations to serve as an electoral commissioner closed on 6 June.
A panel led by the chief justice will have to submit eight names to Parliament to make a selection of three.
IEC chairperson, Mosotho Moepya, said to avoid decisions of the commission being called into question, Commissioner Nomsa Masuku’s input had been curtailed.
Masuku's tenure is one of those that will end in the next five months.
She's currently facing fraud charges related to a previous position at Standard Bank.
"Given that this is a matter before the courts, we are satisfied, as the commission, that we are dealing with the matter responsibly, and in terms of the law."
Moepya said that both the president and the National Assembly Speaker were aware of this arrangement.
Along with Masuku, Moepya and Judge Dhaya Pillay’s seven-year terms end this year.