The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal wishes to inform the people of KwaZulu-Natal and Umtubatuba in particular that the Electoral Court has handed down judgement in a matter concerning the by-election held on the 23rd May 2018 in Ward 04 in the IFP controlled Umtubatuba Local Municipality.

The ANC candidate Elphas Msweli stood for election but was unsuccessful.  Before these elections the ANC had lodged objections with the Independent Electoral Commission concerning voter registration in the ward.

After carefully analysing the voters’ roll, the ANC had noted registration of more than 200 people from the nearby ward, while others had addresses that could not be verified. It was also strange to pick numerous people who had over the years been registered in Hlabisa, re-appearing in Ward 04.

On the 22nd May 2018, the ANC legal team applied for an interdict to stop the by-election, on the basis of these seemingly fraudulently registered voters. Unfortunately the Durban High Court ruled against the ANC pointing out that court should have been approached a week before. The ANC was disappointed that the court ruled against our application while there was clear evidence of electoral malpractice which had been confirmed by the IEC.

The ANC is pleased that the Electoral Court having read our papers and considered the matter, has finally ordered that the by-election in Umtubatuba Ward 04 is set aside in terms of Section 65 of the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act number 27 of 2000.

As the ANC we believe that the re run of the by-election, as ordered by the court, will enable the people of Ward 04 to exercise their rights and vote for their candidate of their choice in free and fair elections.

We recall that on the 29th March 2017, the Electoral Court postponed a by-election in Ward 7 in Phongolo Municipality after ANC had discovered that the names of people who did not live in the ward were on voters roll.  By-election were finally held on the 14th June 2017.

It is not only a malpractice but a fraudulent act to temper with the voters’ roll and registering voters in a ward where they do not legally reside.   The ANC is happy that finally, the IFP has been exposed for being involved in fraudulent activities.

The ANC is determined to root-out election manipulation and vote rigging which seems to be rife in IFP controlled municipalities.  We also call on the IEC to take legal action against the IFP, in this regard as they have clearly broken the law. Finally the taxpayers’ money that was paid fraudulently to the IFP Councillor should be paid back to the municipality.

Finally, our message as the ANC is that we will never rest until we eradicate any illegal interference with the voting process. We don’t want vote-rigging to become a permanent feature of our democracy.

 

Issued by the African National Congress KwaZulu-Natal