Charles Molele
Disgruntled smaller political parties have threatened to go to court to demand that the outcome of the 2019 general elections be declared invalid.
More than 10 small parties caused a ruckus on Thursday night when they stormed the stage at the Independent Electoral Commission [IEC] Results Operations Centre in Pretoria.
Disgruntled smaller parties toyi-toyi at the IEC center to express their dissatisfaction with the voting process. They are threatening legal action against the IEC, saying the elections were not free and fair. #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/NdEqtDsgB8
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics8) May 9, 2019
A few minutes before the demonstration, leaders of the small parties held a caucus to discuss the alleged electoral irregularities, such as double voting and poor quality of the indelible ink.
Led by the African Transformation Movement’s leader Mzwanele Manyi, the parties accused the IEC of failing to put in place effective systems to ensure a free and fair election outcome.
Give the IEC the space to conduct an audit on alleged irregularities, says GOOD leader Patricia de Lille. #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/1MSwVIZI5p
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics8) May 9, 2019
They also accused the IEC of colluding with big parties – the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), “to push the white monopoly agenda” to maintain the status quo.
“This whole thing is not free and fair. The indelible ink is a fundamental issue. As you can see my left thumb is as clean as it gets after only voting yesterday,” said Manyi.
Smaller parties caused a ruckus at the IEC results centre in Pretoria on Thursday evening, when they invaded the stage in protest of the elections outcome, saying they were not free and fair. #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/FqIad6bLpZ
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics8) May 9, 2019
The African People’s Convention leader Adil Nchabeleng said the outcome of the 2019 general elections should be declared invalid because there were many irregularities.
“The IEC is undermining smaller and minority parties. We want the world and the international observers to know that this election was not free and fair. There were incidents of multiple voting and some voting stations were not opened until 5pm in the evening,” Nchabeleng said.
Various other leaders added their voices, with some calling for the re-run of the 2019 general elections and accusing the commission’s chairperson Glenn Mashinini for accompanying president Cyril Ramaphosa to vote in Chiawelo, Soweto, while not doing the same for other parties.
EFF chairperson @AdvDali_Mpofu supports the IEC's decision to conduct a full audit to determine the extent of the alleged irregularities during the voting process on Wednesday. #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/8193MqDtgr
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics8) May 9, 2019
“As the Black Land First (BLF) party we question the fairness of this elections … The IEC is colluding with the ANC-DA-EFF coalition, which exists to defend the interests of white monopoly capital. Parties that are against white monopoly capital are side-lined in South Africa by the IEC. We are strategically being marginalized for being against white monopoly capital,” said Zanele Lwana, deputy president of the BLF.
Earlier on Thursday, the electoral commission’s chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the IEC would urgently conduct an audit of results and votes cast in a sample of voting stations to ascertain if double voting occurred.
Earlier in the day, there were reports that 20 people have been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal for the alleged double voting. However, Mamabolo on Thursday only confirmed four arrests. The IEC boss said the audit will cover a statistically representative sample of voting stations as well as all voting stations where complaints or allegations of double voting have been received.
“The final number and selection of the sample will be determined in conjunction with expert statisticians. The process was endorsed by political parties in the party liaison committee today. The audit will involve the capture of information showing the ID numbers of voters who cast votes at each voting station from the “zip-zip” scanners and completed VEC 4 forms,” said Mamabolo.
