Alleged vote rigging in Mtuba may lead to by-election rerun

MTUBATUBA Municipality’s Ward 4 residents may need to re-cast their votes after the byelection in May was recently deemed to have been rigged.

According to ANC provincial spokesperson, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) Electoral Court last week ordered that the by-election result be set aside in terms of Section 65 of the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000.

Ward 4 covers St Lucia and part of the Dukuduku Forest.

Simelane-Zulu said that prior to the by-election the ANC lodged an objection over voter registration in the ward.

‘After carefully analysing the voters’ roll, the ANC noted the registration of more than 200 people from a nearby ward, while others had addresses that could not be verified,’ he said.

On the eve of the byelection, the ANC legal team applied for an interdict to halt proceedings on the basis of these seemingly fraudulently registered voters.

The Durban High Court denied the interdict, pointing out that the court should have been approached a week before the by-election.

‘We believe a rerun of the by-election, as ordered by the IEC Electoral Court, will enable the people of Ward 4 to exercise their rights and vote for their candidate of choice in free and fair election,’ Simelane-Zulu said.

Mtubatuba Mayor, Velangenkosi Gumede, said senior leadership of the IFP in KZN is analysing the court report and will advise accordingly in due course.

‘We thought the process went well and was carried out by the book, but we will wait for the analysis of our senior leadership and will take it from there,’ he said.

‘If we find all avenues of appeal come to nothing, then we are ready for a rerun of the by-election.’ Gumede said the party cannot rule out political sabotage, but could not comment any further at this stage.

Simelane-Zulu hinted that this was not the first time voter roll fraud has occurred in the district, saying a by-election in Pongola Municipality’s Ward 7 was last year postponed by the Electoral Court after it confirmed that people not residing in the ward appeared on the voters’ roll.

‘It is not only malpractice, but a fraudulent act to tamper with the voters’ roll and registering voters in a ward where they do not legally reside.’

The IEC provincial co-ordinator could not be reached for comment.