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The IFP in KwaZulu-Natal has raised grave concerns about the unprofessional
conduct of IEC staff towards the IFP at the Mthonjaneni IEC office during
the recent by-elections held on Wednesday 17th September.

"We are very perturbed by the unprofessional conduct of the IEC staff. When
we tried to lodge a complaint about claims that some ballot papers went
missing in one of the voting stations, our representative went to the IEC
offices but they were closed and the officials cellular phones were switched
off. This is ridiculous because it has not happened in the past that the day
after the election the offices are closed. This prompted us to lodge a
formal complaint in Durban due to this unacceptable behaviour," said IFP
National Chairperson, Mr Blessed Gwala.

"The IEC must give their staff a thorough induction on office etiquette. We
cannot have a situation where people are employed to offer services to the
public but they ended up being disrespectful," continued Gwala.

"We reiterate our call that we reject the by-election results in Mthonjaneni
and the IEC must declare them invalid .The IEC must act immediately to deal
with these allegations which threatens the essence of a free and fair
election," concluded Mr Gwala.

Issued by the IFP