Finance minister says there is enough money for November 1 elections

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has insisted that there is enough money for the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to hold the local government elections on November 1.

Godongwana said this was based on the funds that had been made available during the budget.

The minister was replying to a written question from DA MP and its spokesperson on finance Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Godongwana said his predecessor, Tito Mboweni, had replied to this question in July when another DA MP, Dion George, had asked about the budget for the local government elections.

Mboweni had said there were funds available to cover the costs for the polls.

“Yes, the funding for the local government elections has been provided for and is included in the baseline of the Electoral Commission. The procurement of the election devices is also funded and included in the baseline. The baseline for the IEC for 2021/22, including the operational expenditure of the commission, is R2.2 billion,” Mboweni had said.

The elections were initially set for October 27 in line with the law.

The IEC had gone to the Constitutional Court to seek an extension after the report of retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke had found it would not be conducive to hold elections because of Covid-19.

But the apex court threw out the IEC’s application to extend the elections from October to February next year.

It said the polls must be held between October 27 and November 1.

This is the time in which the terms of the current councils are due to expire.

The IEC said it must use every available opportunity to prepare for the elections and decided on November 1 as the date that South Africans must go to the polls.

- POLITICAL BUREAU