21 Feb 2017

The government is satisfied with the provisions of Section 66 of the Constitution which gives the President the power to appoint the secretary of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale said in terms of Section 66 (3) of the Constitution, the secretary performs his/her functions under the control and supervision of an Independent Electoral Commission.

He said on appointment to the office of the secretary, the person was required by law to take oath administered by the Chief Justice in terms of which he/she undertakes to adhere to the provisions of the Constitution. “The current legal requirement is adequate in ensuring the conduct of free, fair and credible elections, including issuance of writ of elections.

To further enhance the efficiency of the electoral process, several amendments were made to the electoral law, which included among others, the introduction of electronic voting,” he said. Minister Molale said it was a constitutional requirement that general elections were held after every five years.

He noted that the requirement had always been fulfilled and that government did not have any intentions of amending the law in this respect as it was adequately provided for under Section 91 (3).

Selebi-Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse had asked the minister if he would consider amendments to the law as efforts towards free, fair and credible elections and democratic developments.

Areas he wanted amended included empowerment of the commissioner of the IEC to independently appoint the secretary of the commission and empowerment of the IEC to issue writ of elections for parliamentary and council elections including by-elections. MP Keorapetse also wanted the minister to state the date of elections in the constitution.