Helen Zille, like Jacob Zuma, attacked the apex court as well as the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) without evidence. It’s strange, given that Zille and the DA have used the courts in the past to such great effect to hold the ANC to account for its disrespect of the law and the constitution.
Zille last week accused the Constitutional Court of potentially leaking information to the ANC, causing the party to drop its Electoral Court bid to get the IEC to reopen the candidate registration process for the local government elections.
This allegation was based on speculation from a political analyst quoted in Die Burger, who was musing over the ANC’s sudden withdrawal of its court bid. In his own words, he said he could only speculate that the ANC had been tipped off that the Constitutional Court was going to agree to the IEC’s request for a postponement of the elections.
The Constitutional Court did not agree to the postponement. The analyst and Zille were wrong. The reason the ANC dropped the Electoral Court challenge was that it had raised a flawed argument in its papers, blaming the IEC’s technology for its failure to register candidates in about 300 wards. It was subsequently advised that this was a losing argument.
Zille tried to justify her baseless attack on the judiciary in a lengthy column on the DA website: "State capture happens, as they say, in two stages: first slowly, then quickly. And, with the judiciary, the pace is quickening and becoming more visible." She cites as proof Sydney Mufamadi’s testimony before the state capture commission about money set aside by rogue state security agents to "bribe judges".
The recent round of by-elections shows the DA on the back foot, losing support to the Freedom Front Plus
The courts, the media and SA’s chapter 9 institutions such as the IEC and the public protector were a bulwark against state capture and corruption. In 2014, it was the Labour Court which set aside the suspensions of key SA Revenue Service officials whose removal paved the way for the capture of the tax agency by Zuma lackey Tom Moyane. The courts set aside Zuma’s dubious appointment of Shaun Abrahams as head of the prosecuting authority. There are many other such examples.
We may not agree with the IEC’s ultimate decision to reopen the candidate registration process, but it can be challenged in court. The IEC, which has delivered free and fair elections since 1994, is a creature of statute — everything it does has to be justified legally. So if its decision is illegal or biased in any way, the courts will set it aside in the application the DA happens to be bringing.
Zille’s challenge is as puzzling as her affection for Zuma, who in effect destroyed our economy and inflicted damage SA may never recover from. But it can be explained. It comes at a time of desperation for her party, which has been unable to benefit from an incompetent and malignant ANC.
The recent round of by-elections shows the DA on the back foot — it has lost support to the Freedom Front Plus and black voters seem to be returning to the ANC. It has had another split, with its former Joburg mayor, Herman Mashaba, taking a bite at contesting elections in the local polls with his ActionSA party, in addition to Patricia De Lille’s Good. The latest Ipsos survey also suggests trouble for the DA, which polled at just 18% on a 71% turnout. This result would mean a drop from 27% in 2016 and an even further decline from its 2019 election low point of 21%, after which the DA overhauled its top leadership.
In that context, it’s no wonder that Zille has to resort to conspiracies and instilling fear and mistrust in our last remaining institutions: with about 50 days to go before SA heads to the polls, she needs to drum up her base.
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