Malema quibbles but accepts poll outcome
JULIUS Malema yesterday accused the ANC of rigging the elections in Gauteng, but he accepted the results.
The party had hoped the ANC’s majority would be reduced to less than 50%, which would have enabled the EFF to play a kingmaker role in the province.
The ANC won 53.59% of the votes in Gauteng and the EFF became the third-largest party in the province with 10.3%.
Malema said that although his party received complaints about irregularities from its representatives, it would not challenge the legitimacy of the elections.
“In the whole world there are no perfect elections,” he said. “We have seen even in the US a court resolving election disputes, which is a clear indication that there are no perfect elections.
“We have noted a lot of problems experienced on the ground [and] have received many complaints from our people, but it is very important for all of us to put those things behind us and move forward.”
He said the votes the ANC got in Gauteng were not a true reflection of the province. “Whatever the shenanigans they have done, we accept the results. The Alex mafia knowthat they have lost Gauteng and they had to apply mafia tactics to win.”
But he conceded that the irregularities were not widespread enough to affect the overall outcome.
“We have lodged certain complaints. There are areas where there were serious problems. However, they are not of such significance to a point where they affect the fairness and the freeness of our elections.”
He urged his supporters in Alexandra to accept the outcome.
“People of Alexandra, we call on you to accept defeat. Do it in a dignified manner. Don’t put South Africa into ashes because of the election outcome,” he said.
The EFF’s premier candidate in Gauteng, Dali Mpofu, did not confirm whether he would be going to the provincial legislature. “We don’t deploy ourselves. The organisation is going to decide what happens.”