Allegations by EFF president Julius Malema that votes cast at his Limpopo voting station during the 2024 general elections were given to the ANC have been dismissed as ‘false’ and ‘misleading’ by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).  
 
The IEC said it is concerned about persistent false statements by political party leaders, which it believes could undermine public confidence in the integrity of the 2026 Local Government Elections, scheduled for November 4.  

In a statement, the IEC said Malema alleged during a podcast that votes cast at his voting station at Mponegele Primary School in Polokwane, Limpopo, during the most recent National and Provincial Elections were swapped and given to the ANC. 

 “This is not correct. Results slips in the hands of the commission indicate that the Mponegele Primary School vote count is the same as those captured on the commission’s results system,” it said. 

The IEC described South Africa’s result collation process as robust, with transparency, extensive safeguards, and checks and balances designed to protect the integrity of election results. 

It said it is acutely aware that the results slips completed at voting stations represent the ultimate record of the political will of voters within voting districts. 

Some of the safeguards inherent in the results collation process include: 

• Counting votes at voting stations in front of party agents and observers. 
• Compiling result slips at voting stations and having them countersigned by party agents. 
• Capturing results into the system using a double-blind capture process. 
• Procuring independent auditors to verify captured results against result slips. 
• Independent auditing of the functionality of the results system. 
• Allowing political parties the opportunity to audit the results system. 
• Making voting station results available to political parties and the media through dedicated facilities at results operating centres. 
• Permitting parties to photograph and broadcast result slips as soon as they are completed. 

The IEC will meet with the leadership of the EFF on Thursday (May 21). The meeting, requested by the party, will be used to brief the EFF on election readiness matters and address any issues it may wish to raise relating to the electoral process. 

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