The Umlazi Regional Court sentenced 37-year-old Nomusa Precious Gabuza to three years of correctional supervision and four years imprisonment, wholly suspended for three years, after she pleaded guilty to the  Contravention of the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act 2000.

In her plea, Gabuza mentioned that she was a teacher at a school in Durban, which was also used as a voting station during the local government elections in October 2021.

NPA spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said, “She was the presiding officer at this voting station and acknowledged that her job was to ensure that the voting process was conducted fairly and justly without any problems. On the morning of the elections and before the voting station could open, she decided to cast extra votes in favour of her party of choice.”

She said that she cast 24 votes (12 for the municipal elections and 12 for the ward elections) in favour of her party and put them in the relevant boxes.

In her plea, she mentioned that she did this knowing that her actions were wrong and that she was only entitled to vote once.

Gabuza was arrested after a party representative inspected the boxes before the start of the voting process. She was then arrested and eventually confessed.

“The matter was successfully finalised by regional court prosecutor, Chantal Bisumber. The NPA welcomes the successful finalisation of this matter,” she concluded.