New political party, the Cape Party (CAPE), was attacked this weekend by a new form of electoral violence and intolerance - 'Cyber- violence'.The Cape Party is calling for the return to independence of the Cape. Since their launch at the beginning of this year there have been a number of attacks on the Cape Party from opposition.
Last week political parties signed a 'code of conduct' committing to promoting free and fair elections. This was called into question this weekend when Cape Party supporters entering the site, www.capeparty.com, were horrified to see the image of a "black devil" telling them to "f*** off". The Cape Party has one of the most advanced security systems protecting it from hackers. CAPE leader Jack Miller stated: The hackers who did this obviously had the money and the equipment to break our security. We all know which few parties have the money to complete an operation of this nature." When asked whether he was referring to the DA and ANC, Miller said "This is politics and the Cape Party will have to deal with the worst of the politicians if we are to protect the Cape and its people. When you see the way they run our country it's not surprising they would use tactics like these." The Cape Party's technical staff will be working to remove the offensive material and restore the website to its normal function within the next 48 hours.
The IEC code of conduct states that political parties must adhere to "a culture of tolerance towards all other parties contesting elections" and that parties desist from "acts of intolerance" and anything that may cause "inflammatory actions". With the 2009 National Elections promising to be the most hotly contested since 1994 it is fundamental to the success of South Africa's democracy that all parties abide by the rules of free and fair elections. It seems that the IEC is still ill equipped to deal with the promotion of electioneering and free speech in cyberspace.
The South African Police and the Election Monitoring Network are investigating the matter.
Source : Ends /sss
Date : 17 Mar 2009 09:02
