Tembisa voters were worried that elections would not be free and fair
EFF members alleged that the ANC and the IEC colluded in stealing votes by abusing the by-passable IEC security systems.
On May 8, South Africans came out in their numbers to cast their votes at different voting district (VD) stations.
Unfortunately, there’s a national outcry on alleged double voting by electorates from certain political parties, specifically the EFF, and Tembisa also had to bear the brunt of these complaints.
We spoke to voters to find out if they spotted any problems with the voting system.
EFF member Jacob “General” Hlahani said they were not happy as a party when they received an email from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) stating that people were allowed to cast their votes at VDs where they are not registered.
“This is what opened loopholes for the problem of double voting. IEC systems cannot detect when a person has already voted, as they are dependent on the ink they put on the voter’s thumb and that ink is removable,” said Hlahani.
He said, as a result, they saw ANC minibuses taking voters from one station to another, where they could vote for a second time.
He also mentioned that disabled and elderly people, who were transported to cast special votes, were used to vote again on May 8.
EFF members alleged that the ANC and the IEC colluded in stealing votes by abusing the by-passable IEC security systems.
Another member of the EFF, Takalani Mulaudzi, said they have proof of the allegation of double voting.
“We have submitted objections to the IEC offices at the Tembisa Customer Care Centre in Rabasotho.
“We had problems with scanners at different VDs and the IEC’s area manager was made aware of the problems. We requested for the voting to be stopped, but she said that scanners were working.
“There was problems with scanners at Umthambeka Primary School, Ipontshe Primary School and Phuthumane Primary,” said Mulaudzi.
He said they can prove that minibuses were taking elderly people from one VD to another because they followed one of them and saw that they were not taking the elderly home after voting, but were transporting them to other voting stations.
The EFF said that they will be happy if the IEC decides on holding new elections to iron out these problems.
The Tembisan will follow up on concerns from other small parties who are not satisfied about the voting processes and the ANC’s success margin.
