Simone Nare
UMkhonto WeSizwe leader Jacob Zuma has thrown down the gauntlet on the eve of the declaration of the National and Provincial election results saying the IEC mustn’t declare the elections on Sunday and that more time was needed because there were many grievances that needed to be addressed.
About 26 political parties including the United Democratic Movement, Al-Jahma and MK among others, have sent a lawyer’s letter to the IEC , demanding more time to present ‘prima facie’ evidence that they say have a direct impact on the final election results.
However, IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya in his response to questions from journalists said the commission will go ahead and declare the results on Sunday in terms of the Constitution and said he would continue to conduct his duty without fear or favour.
The Presidency has also confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Results Operation Centre (ROC) as part of the ceremony to announce the declaration of the election results.
A resolute Zuma, while speaking to journalists in an impromptu media conference at the ROC in Midrand, dared the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) not to provoke people but rather seek to resolve the matter by following a peaceful process without rushing to announcing the results.
Zuma warned that if the IEC were to rush matters instead of resolving the objections in a transparent and honest manner, that would be tantamount to provoking the people.
“What do you do when an institution that is supposed to deal with everything, depriving (you) of that possibility? And when people stand to do something, somebody is going to say these people are wild, they must be shot, they must be arrested. It is a serious matter.
“In fact, there is a lot… a lot that is going to come out of these elections. I fully support my colleagues here that nobody must force us to say these are the results because the results are not correct. Nobody is going to announce the results tomorrow. Nobody is going to die if the results are not announced tomorrow.
“We are going to need the time. Nobody must declare tomorrow,” warned Zuma, adding that his party has evidence to back up their grievances and a lot was going to come out when they present their case.
Zuma on realising that he may have uttered inflammatory statements, warned that if the IEC were to go ahead and announce the results tomorrow, the party could approach the courts and interdict the announcement.
He dismissed IEC claims that machines crashed and were down for two hours during a blackout this week at the ROC.
“No machines crashed. Wrong things were being done on the machines. I hope whoever is responsible hears what we are saying… don’t start trouble when there is no trouble. Give political parties, which I think are a majority, a chance to present their cases, information and everything. Don’t rush us. Don’t rush us,” he said.
Zuma added that the IEC must satisfy all the parties concerned that it had looked into the matter thoroughly instead of prioritising the announcement.
His warnings come after MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndlela laid out their grievances and how the IEC has tried to muzzle the party.
Ndlela said they had evidence, including the one concerning the tampering of the website capturing the results.
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