VZCZCXRO7797
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHSA #0484 0711620
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121620Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7676
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 6635
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0759
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 8979
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000484 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS SF KDEM
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING WILL IMPACT APRIL 22 
ELECTION 
 
¶1. (U)  The Constitutional Court ruled on March 12 that South 
African voters living and working abroad may vote in the 
national component of the April 22 election.  This means that 
thousands of voters overseas, many of whom have left South 
Africa for good, will have a chance to vote and influence the 
outcome of the 2009 poll.  Although it is unclear precisely 
how many potential voters this would include, opposition 
parties believe that this ruling could have major 
implications for the outcomes of provincial elections.  The 
Court's decision will allow voters living overseas who are 
registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to 
vote in the election.  However, this ruling still restricts 
those living overseas who are not registered with the IEC 
from casting a ballot.  The ruling follows an application by 
the small minority party, the Freedom Front Plus (FFP), on 
behalf of a Pretoria school teacher working in the United 
Kingdom.  (Note:  The FFP draws its major support from 
primarily Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans.  End Note.) 
 
¶2. (U)  The IEC responded to the ruling by announcing that 
registered South Africans living abroad have until March 27 
to indicate their intention to vote to the IEC.  South 
Africans living abroad have to fill in a special voters' 
request form and submit it to the IEC.  Potential voters 
living overseas can log into the IEC website to determine 
whether they are successfully registered by inputting their 
South African identification number.  Press reports indicate 
that so far 5,000 South Africans have indicated their 
intention to vote from overseas. 
 
¶3. (U)  Political analysts and pundits observe that the 
court's ruling is likely to help the predominately white 
parties the most, especially at the provincial level, as many 
of those living overseas are white South Africans. 
Afriforum, a civil society group focused on the interests of 
Afrikaners, has announced its plans to recruit registered 
South Africans to vote by contacting them electronically via 
the Internet and informing them how to vote.  The ruling 
African National Congress officially welcomed the decision, 
but opposition parties -- especially the FFP, the Democratic 
Alliance (DA), and the Congress of the People -- hailed the 
ruling.  The DA noted that the election result will change as 
a result of the ruling and noted that more than 20,000 South 
Africans living abroad have contacted the party in recent 
weeks about the issue.  The DA plans to discuss whether to 
pursue further legal action that would allow registered South 
Africans living abroad the chance to vote in the April 22 
provincial election as well. 
LA LIME