Registrar of Political Parties, in terms of the Political Parties Act. The Constitution of Mauritius governs the registration of political parties in Mauritius. The Electoral Supervisory Commission has the responsibility to register political parties 14 days before nomination day. In Mozambique, registration takes place at two levels, i.e. registration with the Ministry of Justice to function as a party and registration with the National Electoral Commission to participate in an election. Political parties in Namibia are required to register with the Electoral Commission, while in South Africa political parties must be registered with the Independent Electoral Commission50. A common feature in the SADC countries which provide for the registration of political is that the law generally lays down registration requirements, conditions for registration or refusal of registration, suspension of registration, deregistration, party dissolution and appeals51. Zimbabwe has no law requiring the registration by political parties in order to exist and operate legally. The law merely defines political parties. For instance, section 2 of the Political Parties (Finance) Act defines ‘political party’ as an “association of persons the primary object of which is to secure the election of one or more of its members to a local authority or Parliament”. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act [Chapter 2:12] of 2004 has a slightly broader definition of political party. In defines ‘political party’, in section 2, as "an association of persons the primary object of which is to secure the election of one or more of its members to a local authority or parliament, or to secure the office of president, or to campaign for a specified result at a referendum". The Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] of 2004 has a rather vague definition of political party. It defines ‘political party’ in section 4(1) as "any political organisation". Masunungure suggests that “t]he only time registration is obligatory is during elections when a party wants to contest by fielding a candidate/s. That is, a candidate is required by law to be proposed and endorsed by a certain number of registered voters in his/her constituency and has to pay a candidacy deposit, which is returned if he/she gets a certain stipulated threshold of valid votes cast”52. The requirement by the Electoral Act for candidates in an upcoming election to file nomination papers does not constitute registration. It is intended merely to facilitate the smooth running of an election and to discourage pretenders who would otherwise pose serious administrative and logistical problems for those tasked with running elections. 50 See “Registration of Political Parties”, http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/comparties2.htm, 24/09/09. 51 Ibid. 52 Masunungure, op cit, pp.2-3 and 11. 20