Johnathan Paoli
THE African Congress for Transformation (ACT) has described as inaccurate and misleading a recent article by the publication Daily Maverick, which reported that the party formed by the ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule, has been excluded from the ballot paper.
ACT released a statement on Thursday, with party Spokesperson Lebogang Moloko saying that the party will participate in the upcoming elections, disregarding what he said was the unwarranted alarm and disarray that the media house has attempted to instill in its members, volunteers and voters.
“Despite being fully aware of the facts, the Daily Maverick deliberately distorted the truth to serve their malicious purposes. ACT has officially committed to participating in the upcoming National and Provincial elections by signing an electoral pledge with the IEC,” Moloko said.
The spokesperson said that Daily Maverick intentionally failed to address the crucial detail that the party did not approach the Electoral Court in order to include ACT on the ballot paper, but rather pertained to the online registration platform for candidates and the request for permission to submit the complete candidate lists as a solution in view of the commission’s system failure on 8 March.
Moloko confirmed that the party had already lodged its appeal application to the Constitutional Court for a definitive decision on the matter, and concurred with the dissenting judgement of Judges Tseli Phooko and Jeremiah Shongwe, who held that if left unaddressed, this matter had the potential to raise doubt on the free and fair nature of the elections.
The spokesperson said that this incident was evidence of a clear bias against certain parties and former ANC leaders within the country, and illustrated the affiliation of the media platform with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America.
“ACT will not be deterred by CIA agents whose objective is to ensure the ANC’s continued governance and to transfer over the country to the United States of America for manipulation by the CIA,” Moloko said.
Moloko concluded by highlighting the need for an alternative government which could effectively ensure transformation of the country, despite the opinion of disingenuous platforms such as the Daily Maverick.
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