Ace’s poll ‘contribution’ is buying votes, says DA

● ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule may claim to be a good Samaritan, but his cash handout for a woman with an empty fridge could land him in hot water with the electoral court.

Yesterday Magashule was filmed giving R400 to a woman in Philippi, Cape Town, while visiting her home during door-todoor campaigning. He saw there was no food in her fridge.

The DA has since laid a complaint with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), calling it a case of “cash for votes”, which would contravene the Electoral Act.

Mosotho Moepya, a commissioner at the IEC, said that for a politician to offer a voter cash could violate the law. Moepya said he did not want to know the identity of the politician involved in case he had to adjudicate the matter.

“Someone has to prove this person is offering an inducement to another person, to join the party, attend an event, to vote or not to vote for that party … or another party,” Moepya said.

“The person who has the evidence can … put it to the chief electoral officer, who will assist to take the matter to the electoral court, or they can go directly to the electoral court,” he said.

Moepya said that if the court found the law had been broken, it could issue a formal warning or impose a fine of up to R200,000.

It could order the forfeiture of the party’s election deposit, ban it from campaigning or rule that it receive no state funding.

Earlier in the week, Magashule had defended the practice of giving cash to voters.

“I can’t leave a family without saying to comrades: ‘Here, let’s contribute, let’s buy something, let’s leave them with some R200, R300, R500, R1,000, whatever we can contribute.’ We can’t just go door to door and we contribute nothing,” he said.

Magashule said giving money to needy families during election campaigns did not amount to vote-buying.

DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi said Magashule’s conduct was a desperate tactic to win votes.

● ➽ To see the video go to www.timeslive.co.za