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The ANC in the Eastern Cape has finally admitted that the referendum conducted in the southern Drakensberg town of Matatiele was flawed and corrupted. The referendum was held last week to ascertain whether the Matatiele residents wanted to become part of the Eastern Cape or KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The government now wants to rather conduct a survey as opposed to holding a referendum. The preliminary results of that referendum show that the overwhelming majority (84%) of residents are in favour of becoming part of KZN, but newspaper reports claim that residents are split on the decision. The sources of these reports are unknown, but it would certainly have been in the ANC's interest to promote that narrative because the preliminary results are not in line with what they want. The ANC needs to respect the wishes of the electorate and must redo the process with the Independent Electoral Commission this time overseeing the referendum. The Matatiele and Maluti Mass Action Committee went to the Constitutional Court after the government decided to move Matatiele into the Eastern Cape. However, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the government has to consult the residents before deciding on the future of Matatiele and this must be upheld. The admission by the ANC comes after the Democratic Alliance last week expressed concern that the referendum wasn't following proper electoral rules and processes. There were a number of problems associated with the Matatiele referendum, including:
• Confusion over when the vote would take place
• Some voting stations were shut down early, while some did not even open at all, which resulted in a lot of residents not casting a vote
• Ballot boxes weren't sealed, leaving them open to tampering, and it has now been reported that some have been stolen.
• The anonymity of the voters was not upheld as forms on which the vote had to be cast carried the voter's ID number and the printed zip code.
• The voting was conducted with washable ink.
• Voters that had not been registered were allowed to vote.
• The preliminary results, which show that 84% of voters preferred to become part of KZN while 16% voted for the Eastern Cape, were never released.