The Electoral Court dismissed the Democratic Alliance's claims that President Cyril Ramaphosa's 'family meeting' ahead of the May 29 elections was a final campaign for the African National Congress.
“In our view, there is no evidence before us that the president’s address influenced a single voter,” ruled Electoral Court Judges Dumisani Zondi, Leicester Adams and Seena Yacoob.
“We conclude that there has not been a violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Code as alleged by the DA, nor any violation of the Constitution. The DA's application therefore falls to be dismissed.”
On Monday, the court concluded that there was no misuse of public funds for the purpose of a political campaign.
Background
In May this year, the DA took Ramaphosa to court over his address, accusing him of using state resources to canvas for the ANC.
At the time, the party accused Ramaphosa of violating the Electoral Code of Conduct.
It said under the guise of delivering an “address to the nation”, Ramaphosa violated the Electoral Code of Conduct when he abused the highest office in the land for flagrant electioneering.
The party added that Ramaphosa’s manipulation was cynical, calculated and designed to influence the outcome of the election by providing the ANC with unearned airtime not made available to any other party contesting the election.
The court ruled that the application was dismissed with no order as to costs.
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