Sitembiso Dalkanyo Sicengu v Khayakazi Magudumane and Another

The applicant, Mr Sitembiso Dalkanyo Sicengu, brought an urgent application in the Electoral Court seeking an interim interdict restraining the first respondent, an employee of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), from allegedly disparaging his name by stating that he had been dismissed from the African National Congress (ANC). The applicant had previously been a municipal councillor and ANC branch chairperson. In June 2020 the ANC informed the municipal manager that his council membership had terminated in terms of s 27(1)(f)(i) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998. This led to the declaration of a vacancy and the holding of a by-election, which the applicant unsuccessfully attempted to interdict. The by-election was held and a replacement councillor served until August 2022. In 2023 the applicant approached the Electoral Court for relief unrelated to a decision of the IEC.

The application was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, with no order as to costs.

The case reaffirms the limited and statutorily circumscribed jurisdiction of the Electoral Court. It clarifies that the Court cannot grant interim interdicts or other relief unless the matter falls squarely within s 20 of the Electoral Commission Act, thereby reinforcing jurisdictional discipline in electoral litigation.