Zuma demands rerun of this week’s watershed elections

MK Party leader Jacob Zuma is demanding a rerun of this week’s watershed elections, claiming they were marred by vote rigging and other serious irregularities.

This was despite his six-month-old party delivering a spectacular performance in its national electoral debut, amassing more than 2-million votes — or at least 58 seats in parliament.

That makes Zuma’s MK Party the third-biggest party in the seventh national administration. MPs are set to be sworn in by chief justice Raymond Zondo within a fortnight.

But seemingly believing his party could have done much better, Zuma wants elections to be held afresh as he suspects electoral fraud  has affected his showing. He’s called on the IEC to suspend the scheduled declaration of the 2024 election results later this evening, where President Cyril Ramaphosa is also due to deliver a keynote address.

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Despite Zuma’s threat, the IEC last night announced it was ready to announce the elections results today.

Zuma’s complaints to the IEC have been joined by 20 other parties, including  Xiluva, COPE, the UDM and Sara, citing the short period given in which to lodge disputes.

The parties accuse the commission of breaching their right to a fair election.

“We are citizens. Institutions cannot say they won’t listen to us and do things  ... rush-rush. That is provoking people in reality.

“What do you do if the institutions that are supposed to listen and deal with everything, are depriving [us] of that possibility?

“When we stand up and do something, somebody is going to say ‘these people are violent’. They must be shot, they must be arrested. A lot is going to come out in these elections.”

Zuma raised the alarm, saying his party was convinced that the electoral process was tampered with.

“Nobody must force us to accept the results, because the results are not correct. If you say so, the institutions must satisfy us that they have looked into the issues raised.

“We are going to need the time. Nobody must declare tomorrow. If that happens, people will be provoking us. We know what they are doing, we are not guessing, we know. Why should they rush to count?

“I’m hoping whoever is responsible is hearing what we are saying. Don’t start trouble. Don’t start trouble where there is no trouble. Give political parties the chance to present their cases and information. Don’t rush us.”

Zuma said this action was necessary to protect the integrity of the process, in order for all parties to accept their respective outcomes.

“Part of the reason we have come to a point where there is a bigger way of dealing with the matter is that those in charge can’t be investigating themselves. That’s why we say there must be an open, clear, investigation done by a commission of inquiry.”

“Some say the machines crashed. There were being done wrong things; we know. We are going to present that information. Nobody must rush us. They must listen to us.”

The parties penned a letter to the IEC demanding a deferment of the declaration announcement pending the conclusion of the matter and outcome of all submissions lodged.

“The crux of the objections and grievances are a result of a wide range of systemic irregularities. We have prima facie evidence at our disposal which has a direct impact on the electoral outcome. These irregularities have breached our constitutional right to a free and fair election.”

In addition, MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela also revealed that they would no longer seek a recount, but a  new election instead. He said the party’s attorneys were dealing with the matter. The party also wanted a  a commission of inquiry into electoral processes.

“Before our consultative mandate, the IEC acknowledged points we had raised. They spoke about the possibility of a recount. They conceded that there are issues. They granted an extension to the condonation. The gravity of the problem is quite severe. We put together what we felt is our plan to respond. Whether we have 1,000 or 50,000 votes, they are still South Africans. We have a moral and constitutional duty to do right by them.”

However, the Presidency announced that Ramaphosa was expected to participate in the IEC’s announcement ceremony today as planned.

“South Africans cast their votes on Wednesday May 29, in the seventh democratic national and provincial elections since the attainment of the right of all citizens to elect a government of their choice. May 29 was preceded by special voting days on May 27 and 28.

“The 2024 national and provincial elections implemented the electoral amendment act, which became law in June 2023, expanding the pool of contest for the national and provincial elections to independent candidates. President Ramaphosa will deliver an address as part of the results ceremony.”

Despite’s demands and complaints, the IEC said it was going ahead with the declaration today. They said they were neither threatened nor intimidated from doing the work as guided by electoral laws.

“Some of these things, we’ve got to accept, that they come with the territory. The constitution requires for us to act without fear, favour or prejudice. We are determined to discharge our obligation as required by the constitution,” said IEC chair Mosotho Moepya.