Dear IEC Management
Chairperson : Mr. Mosotho Moepya
COMMISSIONER : Ms. Janet Love; Mr. Glen Mashinini;
: Dr. Nomsa Masuku; Judge. Dhaya Pillay
South African National Flag on political logos
I am not sure whether voting is my voice any more, as the IEC and many are saying. I have been voting ever since but this time “I am not sure, whether I will vote in 2024 or not” because, I am so disappointed in the IEC. I do believe that “if IEC can take my ID number and check which year I did not vote”, they will find nothing as I have not missed any voting event whether in local or general elections. I am saying this because I have a way back complaint that “I have submitted to the IEC about political parties that use our national flag on their party logo” and still have not received any answers or resolution in this matter.
My complaint was about the list of political parties that use our South Africa National Flag or National Colours on their political party logo. I am saying this as it was said in 1994 that the National Flag was designed to represent the people of South Africa, not political parties. The IEC knows this but we still see political parties like DA, COPE, AGANG SA the list goes on and on that use our beautiful flag on their political party logo.
IEC Values… read as follows
To enable the Electoral Commission to serve the needs of all stakeholders, including the electorate, political parties and candidates, permanent and temporary staff, the media, civil society and others,
the organisation subscribes to the following organisational values:
1. Impartiality – to act free of favour
2. Integrity – the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
3. Accountability – to take responsibility for one’s actions
4. Transparency – invite trust by revealing that one has nothing to hide
5. Responsiveness – the quality of reacting quickly and positively
This is the right time for the IEC to answer questions (Accountability) that, are shared in the book called South African National Colours. Please find the attached pdf pages, pages 92, 93 and 94 as they have been shared with the IEC before (Impartiality), nothing has been done about this and it is clear that the IEC does not live up to its Values. It is painful for Action SA to be punished by the IEC for redesigning its political logo, as the IEC claims that “the Action SA logo resembles the South African National Flag and therefore it should be redesigned” (Transparency) yes it was the truth that the IEC share with the Action SA (Integrity) but it is also unfair to the Actions SA as the IEC fails to do the same to other political parties that have resembled the South African National Flag (Responsiveness) as the Action SA did.
The IEC has the power to reject the registration of any political party logo, which bears a resemblance to the South African Flag. It should do so in all political parties that have the South African National Colours on their party logo and if Action SA should redesign its party logo what about COPE, DA, and AGANG? The Party of Action (POA) has also claimed the Action SA logo was strikingly similar to its logo and could confuse the voters. by saying so… The IEC should also do the same to the Party of Action; they should also redesign their logo, as it resembles the South African National Colours. Any political party should at least use three of our National colours to avoid conflicts and those who use all six colours should consider redesigning. Political parties should stay away from the South African Flag or National Colours as the flag was designed to represent the people of South Africa, not political parties.
Patrick. M. Sigenu
Among these logos, only Action SA’s original one deserved to be rejected. It looked like they just cut and paste a section of the South African flag, distorted it a bit with Photoshop and rotated it. All the other logos are sufficiently unique.
Bob, the letter was about using the colours of the national flag, not its design.
I agree with the author about the impartiality of the IEC. I was an observer in 2004 and saw numerous transgressions committed by ANC observers to which they turned a blind eye, yet took observers of other parties to task.
They also put pressure on illiterate voters who wanted to vote for other parties, one voter was very vocal when they were trying to get him to change his vote from VF to ANC, I reported the incident but never got any feedback.
Independent observers from the UN should oversee impartial elections in all African countries and should be the ones counting the votes.
From the Author of this letter, I do agree with Heloise… if you do not agree with me go to the IEC commissioners list and history. you will find that Mrs. or Mr. so and so was working for an ANC or was an ANC MP… How possible is that issue? and where do other political parties fit?