Respect electoral court decision: Sexwale

JOHANNESBURG Aug 3 Sapa

Gauteng premier Tokyo Sexwale on Thursday urged all political
parties to respect the special Electoral Court's decision on the
ward demarcation of Johannesburg.

"The reason that the cabinet has taken the decision to refer
this issue to the special court is its belief that the country has
a sound judicial system which will be able to fairly arbitrate in
what has become a polically-loaded issue," he said at a Press
briefing on Thursday.

Sexwale acknowledged there was no such thing as perfect
demarcation which suited all parties. "It is unfortunate that
political parties were unable to find sufficient common ground on
the issue of demarcation," he said.

MEC for housing and local government Dan Mofokeng said the
court was aware of the urgency to solve the dispute and a decision
was expected soon.

"Nothing and no-one must hold back the process of elections,"
Sexwale added.

The Electoral Court started its deliberations on the matter on
Thursday morning, but adjourned briefly to give counsel a chance to
see if they could resolve the matter between themselves.

Mofokeng said no progress was made and the court had
reconvened.