The Multi Party Coalition in Tshwane says it will consult attorneys on Tuesday to determine its options in ensuring that the 69 ballots cast for its Tshwane municipal council speaker candidate, Kholofelo Morodi, are counted.

The position became vacant earlier this month when former Congress of the People member Dr Murunwa Makwarela was elected executive mayor.

Makwarela has since resigned both as mayor and PR councillor, after submitting what has since been declared a fraudulent rehabilitated certificate for his insolvency. 

The 69 ballots were declared “spoilt” by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) after councillors voted using numbers to discern who they had voted for.

As a consequence, the African Transformation Movement’s Mncedi Ndzwanana beat Morodi in the votes.

During counting, the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus party agents pointed to the fact that the 69 ballots clearly indicated the intention of voters.

“There was no confusion or ambiguity in the markings. Neither were any ballots defaced. The IEC classified the 69 votes as 'spoilt' based on the fact that they were marked not with a crosses but with numbers,” said the Multi Party Coalition.

The Coalition explained that had the 69 so-called 'spoilt' ballots not been discarded, the total result for Morodi would have been 106 of the 211 ballots cast.

The Multi Party Coalition is of the view that the IEC officials were under pressure by the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to discard the ballots to ensure the election of their preferred speaker candidate.

“Telling about the decision of the IEC to exclude these ballots is the fact that every one of these 69 ballots were cast for Councillor Morodi whom the Multi-Party Coalition majority endorsed as candidate for Speaker,” the Coalition stated.

A previous round for voting had to be abandoned after ANC and EFF councillors stormed the voting area, grabbed a ballot box and even took a ballot from a DA councillor.