IEC chairwoman Pansy Tlakula made an “honest mistake” in the procurement of new premises, the Electoral Court sitting in the High Court in Johannesburg heard on Wednesday. “People can make mistakes. The fact that people make mistakes does not have a bearing on their integrity, their impartiality,” Daniel Berger, SC, for Tlakula, told the court. He said she had acknowledged making an “honest mistake” when she tried to put the procurement of new office space for the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) out to tender. Berger said the IEC ratified Tlakula’s decision to do so. “Advocate Tlakula tried to improve the position,” he said. He said that at the time Tlakula was not aware that Abland, the company that ultimately won the tender, would bid for it. The Public Protector found Tlakula had a relationship — possibly of a romantic nature — with the chairman of Parliament’s finance portfolio committee, Thaba Mufamadi. He was a shareholder in Abland, which owned the Riverside Office Park building in Centurion, Pretoria, the IEC’s current premises. The court is investigating Tlakula’s conduct after an application by some opposition parties to have her resign as IEC chairwoman. It was brought before the May 7 elections...
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