Johnathan Paoli
THE Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has noted the allegations that the uMkhonto weSizwe party submitted fraudulent signatures in fulfilment of the candidate nomination requirements, it said in a statement on Monday.
The IEC admitted though that a criminal complaint has been laid with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and said that it welcomed the speedy investigation.
“The Commission calls on the crime investigation authorities to expedite the investigations in order to establish the verity of the allegations made. An expeditious investigation is essential for the conduct of free and fair elections,” the statement read.
The commission confirmed that the signature portal of the candidate nomination system verified whether the identity numbers submitted were of registered citizens of the Republic, alive and registered on the voter’s roll.
The IEC said that it had indicated in the parliamentary process during debates on the institutionalisation of the signature requirement that it would be impossible to establish whether the signatures proffered were indeed of those persons who purport to have given them.
Lennox Ntsodo, a former senior MK party official, made a statement to the Western Cape police, alleging the appointment of a team of approximately 20 individuals in February to aid in the widespread forgery of signatures.
ActionSA national chairperson, Michael Beaumont said that his party took note of the disturbing reports that various parties forged signatures to register for the 2024 elections and the IEC simply accepted submissions in good faith.
Beaumont said that his party will be writing to the IEC to call for investigations.
“The question of criminality is entirely separate from the question of the legitimacy of a party’s registration for the election. The IEC must not hide behind SAPS,” Beaumont said.
Earlier this month, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema raised concerns regarding the authenticity of the 140 000 signatures submitted by Musi Maimane’s Build One SA (BOSA), and said that systems should be in place to verify the signatures, as the IEC currently could not provide tangible proof that the signatures were real.
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