President Kgalema Motlanthe will announce the election date next week, presidential spokesperson Thabo Masebe said on Thursday.
Motlanthe had been widely expected to announce the date during his State of the Nation address in Parliament on Friday, but Masebe refuted this.
”No, he will not announce the date tomorrow [Friday],” he said.
Masebe would not say on which day the announcement would be made.
Motlanthe met the head of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Brigalia Bam, in Cape Town on Wednesday to discuss a date for the poll.
Final voter registration would take place this weekend, giving South Africans their last chance to register for the upcoming general election.
Earlier, Bam said the IEC would be ready to stage the election on April 15, according to South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio.
”We have been able, as the IEC, to follow very strictly, with precision, the dates in which we have to be ready and that is according to our Constitution — which is the 15th of April, and we are ready, definitely, on that day,” Bam said.
The current term of Parliament, the national and provincial legislatures, would expire on April 14. An election held after April 14 did not require Parliament to be dissolved.
Awkward time
Meanwhile, Motlanthe faces an awkward time on Friday as he delivers the State of the Nation address after only five months in office ahead of the much-anticipated general elections.
Analysts say the end of the current government’s term of office has been marred by its ouster of former president Thabo Mbeki, and Motlanthe will have to flash ruling African National Congress (ANC) achievements while being mindful of his role as caretaker.
The ANC, seen as dictating to Motlanthe during his short term, has been in two minds over the need for the State of the Nation address amid the pomp of the traditionally glamorous opening of Parliament.
”It is one of the awkward State of the Nation addresses. There has been intra-ANC contestation over whether there should really be one given it is an acting president delivering it. That will place certain constraints [on Motlanthe],” said political analyst Susan Booysen.
”I really think it is quite a low-key statement, although the ANC would want to flash its achievements and its plans. It is almost going to have the character of an election speech.”
She said Motlanthe was likely to refer to plans for job creation and rural development, much the same as the ANC’s election manifesto.
The ANC has undergone a wave of political turmoil in recent months, sparked by the corruption trial of its president, Jacob Zuma.
Steven Friedman, of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, said the speech was unlikely to be ”very forward-looking”.
”I would expect it to be an extremely low-key State of the Nation address.”
Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said: ”The real State of the Nation address will happen after the election and therefore one doubts if this one is as significant as the one delivered by, I think, Jacob Zuma after the election.”
”You will see the president going through the motions, I don’t expect him to provide much detail about specific programmes going forward. I suspect he will do the courteous thing and leave a lot of the details to the State of the Nation address after the election.” — Sapa, AFP