GOOD cries foul as DA and PA snatch its seats in George by-elections

GOOD has labelled the by-elections in George Municipality, Western Cape, as “brazenly stolen” after it lost its three seats to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

The fiercely contested by-elections at wards 16, 20 and 27 were riddled with allegations of voter registration fraud levelled by GOOD against the DA.

The mudslinging between the two parties continued on voting day as they accused each other of intimidation.

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An attempt by GOOD to have the by-elections postponed was dismissed by the Electoral Court on Wednesday.

Back to court

GOOD secretary-general Brett Herron on Thursday said papers were being prepared to challenge the results in court and also seek sanctions against the DA.

“We are deeply disappointed that the IEC has been unable, or unwilling, to detect suspicious voter registration patterns based on the unusually high number of new voter registrations for a by-election.

“It is also astounding that the online voter registration system can be abused by political parties to re-register eligible citizens in wards where they do not live, and the IEC is unable to detect this.

“GOOD will file that objection within the 48-hour period that section 65 of the Municipal Electoral Act provides for.”

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‘We were robbed’

The voting outcome shows that the DA won wards 27 and 16, with the PA bagging ward 20.

GOOD councillor Richard Hector, who left for the DA and then re-joined the party in time for the by-elections, could not retain his ward 27 on Wednesday.

By Thursday morning, PA leader Gayton McKenzie also claimed the PA “was robbed”.

“They stole ward 16. We were robbed, those [results] are not a true reflection of the will of the voters of ward 16, the truth shall come out soon,” he posted on the PA’s page.

While the DA denied all allegations, the IEC is yet to respond to claims of irregularity from the PA and GOOD.

The DA has now increased its seats to 28 in George, which has a total of 55 seats. It formed a coalition with the Freedom Front Plus after the 2021 local polls.

The PA has two seats after winning one ward in 2021.

GOOD won three ward seats and three PR seats in 2021. It’s now left with three PR seats.

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