The applicant, Mr Sitembiso Dalkanyo Sicengu, was on the payroll of the Municipal Council and served as branch chairperson of the ANC for ward 19 at Mbashe Municipality. In June 2020, the ANC advised the municipal manager that the applicant's membership of the Municipal Council had been terminated in terms of section 27(1)(f)(i) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998. The municipal manager informed the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Eastern Cape). The MEC, after consulting the Commission, called a by-election for the applicant's replacement in terms of section 25(4) of the Structures Act. The applicant unsuccessfully sought to interdict the declaration of the vacancy and the conduct of the by-election. The by-election was held on 6 November 2020 and a replacement was elected, whose term expired in August 2022. On 10 May 2023, the applicant brought an urgent application seeking an order interdicting and restraining the first respondent, Ms Khayakazi Magudumane (an employee of the IEC), from disparaging his name by stating he was dismissed from the ANC.
The application was dismissed with no order as to costs.
The Electoral Court does not have jurisdiction to grant an interim interdict relating to a matter falling outside the provisions of section 20 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996. The jurisdiction of the Electoral Court is strictly circumscribed by section 20 of the Act, which limits the Court to: (1) reviewing decisions of the Commission relating to electoral matters (section 20(1)(a)); (2) hearing appeals against decisions of the Commission relating to interpretation of law or matters for which appeals are provided by law (section 20(2)(a)); and (3) hearing and determining disputes relating to membership, leadership, constitution or founding instruments of a registered party (section 20(2A)). An application for an interdict to prevent an individual from making allegedly defamatory statements about dismissal from a political party does not fall within any of these jurisdictional grounds, even if the underlying dispute originates from party membership issues.
The Court observed that having found it lacked jurisdiction over the application, the merits of the underlying dispute were irrelevant as the jurisdictional ruling was dispositive of the application. This indicates that jurisdictional questions are threshold issues that must be determined before any consideration of the merits. The Court also noted that while the genesis of the application was a dispute relating to the applicant's membership of the ANC, this connection alone was insufficient to bring the matter within the Electoral Court's jurisdiction under section 20(2A), as the relief sought did not relate to membership, leadership, constitution or founding instruments of the registered party.
This case clarifies the limited and specific jurisdiction of the Electoral Court under section 20 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996. It confirms that the Electoral Court cannot grant relief, including interim interdicts, in matters that fall outside its statutory jurisdiction, even where the underlying dispute has electoral or political party origins. The case serves as an important reminder that the Electoral Court's jurisdiction is strictly circumscribed by statute and that parties must approach the appropriate forum for relief that falls outside the Electoral Court's limited mandate.