comic relief....?

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Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 20:39:16 EST
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Subject: [AfricaMatters] Flip of coin means no beating about the bush

Flip of coin means no beating about the bush

December 06 2000 at 07:40PM



East London [South Africa] - The toss of a two-rand coin secured a candidate
his seat on a municipal council on Wednesday.

Laurence Jiba, of the ANC, and Pat Puchert, of the Democratic Alliance, each
won 2 266 votes - after several re-counts - in East London's Cambridge ward.

In line with the Municipal Electoral Act, which even defines which side of a
coin is heads and which tails, they then presented themselves to the
electoral officer in charge, along with a neutral umpire.

Jiba, by virtue of the ANC's alphabetical superiority, had the privilege of
calling. He chose heads - and heads it was.

Puchert said the idea of tossing a coin had come as a shock to her.

"I didn't know we could decide a vote on the toss of a coin - I'd never heard
of it. But I've accepted it," she said.

She will still have a seat on the council, though, from the DA's proportional
representation list.

The Democratic Alliance's provincial chairman, Athol Trollip said the outcome
was a "huge disappointment" to his party.

However it was also a testament to political tolerance and the maturity of
democracy in South Africa.

He did not believe that sort of outcome would have been accepted anywhere
else in the world. - Sapa-AFP


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