Postpone KwaZulu/Natal elections, says NP

DURBAN Aug 17 Sapa

The National Party in KwaZulu/Natal on Thursday called on the
central government to postpone local elections in the province to a
day in March.

Spokesman Val Volker criticised the central government's
decision to hold staggered elections in the province. He told a
media briefing in Durban staggered elections would result in
widespread chaos and undermine efforts to create peace and
stability in the province.

"Logistically, for the sake of peace and stability, it is
essential that we have elections on the same day."

The central government should promulgate the necessary
legislation to abandon the November 1 elections and allow a
postponement.

He said it was clear that less than eight per cent of all
registered voters would be able to vote in KwaZulu/Natal on
November 1, due largely to complications in ward demarcation.

Staggered elections would result in an effective eight months
of electioneering in the politically tense province, and this was
potentially dangerous.

"In a province like KwaZulu/Natal we cannot afford that length
of time of active electioneering, given the political tension."

Volker said staggered elections would also result in
constitutional complications, because some areas could fall into a
political vacuum after November 1 when present legislation
governing local government would fall away.

The ANC had plans, Volker said, to fill this vacuum by giving
central government greater intrusive powers in local government
affairs in the interim between election day and the adoption of a
final constitution. These powers would define whether local
government was a provincial or national government competency.

In terms of recently amended local government legislation, the
president was given the authority to intervene in local government
matters despite the ruling of the interim constitution that defined
local government as a provincial competency.

The NP in KwaZulu/Natal was opposed to such an attempt to
interfere in local government matters.

"These additional powers are not in terms of the interim
constitution which was approved by parliament," Volker said.

The presidential powers would officially come to an end on the
day of local government elections.

However, Volker said, additional legislation proposed by the
African National Congress would seek to fill the gap before
provincial government had the chance to enact its own local
government legislation.

He said KwaZulu/Natal had prepared its own draft legislation to
empower the provincial parliament to take control of local
government issues, but this might be ready only at a later stage.

If staggered elections were allowed to go ahead, those areas
completing elections on November 1 would automatically fall under
the ambit of the proposed new central government legislation.

The NP was also critical of a proposal to limit the
representation of traditional leaders on regional local government
councils.