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| Court backs S Africa exile vote | Court backs S Africa exile vote |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| South Africans living abroad should be allowed to vote, according to a ruling by Pretoria High Court. | |
| The decision could mean a delay to elections, due in April or May, to allow time for the law to be changed. | The decision could mean a delay to elections, due in April or May, to allow time for the law to be changed. |
| The court found current laws breached the rights of South Africans living abroad and referred the judgment to the Constitutional Court for confirmation. | The court found current laws breached the rights of South Africans living abroad and referred the judgment to the Constitutional Court for confirmation. |
| The electoral commission was ordered to change its procedures to let South Africans living abroad to vote. | The electoral commission was ordered to change its procedures to let South Africans living abroad to vote. |
| The Afrikaner nationalist Freedom Front Plus party had brought the legal application on behalf of a South African school teacher living in the UK. | The Afrikaner nationalist Freedom Front Plus party had brought the legal application on behalf of a South African school teacher living in the UK. |
| Speaking outside the court, party spokesman Willie Spies told Sapa news agency it was still possible the Constitutional Court, the country's highest court, could overrule the judgment. | Speaking outside the court, party spokesman Willie Spies told Sapa news agency it was still possible the Constitutional Court, the country's highest court, could overrule the judgment. |
| The party said it was filing an application for the proclamation of election day to be postponed to allow the Constitutional Court ample time to consider the matter. | The party said it was filing an application for the proclamation of election day to be postponed to allow the Constitutional Court ample time to consider the matter. |
| The date for the elections was expected this week. | The date for the elections was expected this week. |
| Tight contest | |
| Currently certain groups, including government employees and people on holiday and business trips, are entitled to vote while out of the country. | Currently certain groups, including government employees and people on holiday and business trips, are entitled to vote while out of the country. |
| The poll is shaping up to be the most interesting since the end of apartheid in 1994. | |
| African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma is the front-runner to become president but his bid has been tarnished by the corruption charges he is facing. | |
| Bitter divisions in the ruling party recently led to the launch of the breakaway Congress of the People (Cope) party, which could win enough votes to deny the ANC a two-thirds majority to parliament, needed to change the constitution. | |
| The tensions have spilled over into clashes between groups of rival supporters. |