IFP rejects ‘ghost residents’
THE IFP has taken steps to address so-called non-residents who registered to vote in the upcoming by-election in Mthonjaneni Municipality.
The party submitted a written objection to the IEC on Monday, demanding verification of the newly-compiled voters’ roll for Ward 5.
This follows voter registration that took place on 15 and 16 October for the end of November by-election.
The party alleges there are about 400 people who registered to vote in Ward 5 but who do not live in the area.
IFP Provincial Chairperson Thami Ntuli says they reported the matter to the IEC to avoid confrontation between the legitimate Ward 5 residents and the bogus ones.
He further threatened that if the IEC fails to verify these irregularities, the party would be forced to approach the
Electoral Court before the by-election.
Ward 5 became vacant following the September resignation of ANC Cllr Sibusiso Khuzwayo.
“We have discovered that there were massive movements from voting districts, done online and manually,” said Ntuli. “There are voters who registered and voted in Ward 12 under Mthonjaneni during the August by-election. These same voters registered online claiming to be residents of Ward 5.
“We also noticed that many voters who voted in the September by-election held in Madlankala under the City of uMhlathuze also registered as Ward 5 residents. “We want the IEC to investigate and verify this matter by doing door-to-door verification to ascertain who is who. “Residents, especially in rural areas, know each other, so we believe it would be easy for the IEC to verify them.
“In addition, we have identified movements of people from outside King Cetshwayo District who also registered to vote in Ward 5.
“It is unprecedented that so many people could change their residence within a short space of time,” he said. IEC national spokesperson Kate Bapela acknowledged media queries but had not responded at the time of going to print.