The ANC Statement on the court outcome

The ANC notes the judgment of the South Gauteng High Court regarding its urgent application, We will study this judgement and consult with counsel to evaluate the options available To the ANC. On the face of the judgement, it appears that the judge erred in applying laws of defamation to a matter governed by Electoral laws. Further, the court seem to have erred by not accepting that the right to freedom of expression is correctly limited by the Electoral Act.

The ANC, notwithstanding the court judgment, reiterates its call for political parties to be responsible during elections and act in a manner that promotes meaningful political exchange. Our democracy demands tapered emotions during elections. The ANC notes the outcome of this application. It is regrettable that some of the political parties may construe the court judgment as a license to peddle lies for political gain, an outcome not envisaged by our electoral laws. We call on all our people to debate openly and freely but pay utmost respect to the truth.

African National Congress believes that everyone in South Africa, political parties in particular, has a legal and moral duty to ensure that the political environment in our country is conducive to free political activity. Particularly, during the period leading to elections.

The ANC believes in robust political discourse and in-depth interrogation of issues. However, the ANC holds a view that such robust debate needs to be within the context of an environment that is conducive to free and fair elections. Like other established democracies, in order to maintain such an environment, South Africa prohibits the publication of false information by any party in order to influence the conduct or outcome of an election.

The Electoral Act and the Electoral Code exact a higher standard of compliance during elections. The robustness or fierceness of political discourse is required to be rooted in the truthfulness of its content. The amount of spin to be placed on facts is not permitted to go beyond what the facts can accommodate.

Allowing falsehood to be peddled with impunity during elections will introduce a culture of undue insults, slander and unfettered decimation of people's good names and reputations. It is likely to inflame the atmosphere and may heighten political intolerance.

South Africa emerged from a complex political history. We have navigated a sensitive path towards peace, stability and freedom. It is important that political exchanges be due and truthful, especially during elections.

In the same week that the ANC applied to court for relief against the false SMS by the DA, the DA itself sought protection from the Electoral Act to stop the Al Jama-ah party from distributing pamphlets and posters making allegations against it and its sources of funding. The statement by Al Jama-ah may be read or understood by some in our society as anti-semitic. Pamphlets of this sort, like the DA SMS falsely accusing President Zuma of having stolen money to build his home, may heighten temperatures and provoke political intolerance.

Further, a deliberate distortion of the report of a chapter 9 institution makes a mockery of our Constitution. The report of the Public Protector into the security upgrades of the private residence of the President has correctly sparked intense public debate. Its interpretation and analysis may as fierce as possible but should be honest. Particularly, during elections. The ANC, as a majority party during the negotiation of the Constitution, was responsible for creating the chapter 9 institutions including the Public Protector. It is for this reason that it believes it has an even higher obligation to protect the institutions of democracy that it has itself created.

A deliberate distortion of the Public Protector's report in the DA SMS is contemptuous of the office of the Public Protector and the spirit underlying its foundation.

It is against this background that the ANC invoked the remedies available to it in the Electoral Act the South Gauteng High Court. 

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC national spokesperson, April 4 2014 

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