PORT ELIZABETH, August 4 (ANA) – The ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay announced late on Thursday night that they would be lodging a dispute with the IEC saying that election results in the hotly contested metro would not represent the “will of the peopleâ€.
Speaking at a press conference at the IEC results centre in Zwide, ANC Regional Task Team Co-ordinator Beza Ntshona said that the party would cite a “wide spread of irregularities†in its formal complaint.
Ntshona said this was based on “dumped†ballot boxes discovered in a tent earlier in the day behind the results centre in Port Elizabeth.
“We have lodged a case with Kwazakhele SAPS and we are lodging an objection with the IEC in terms of section 65 of the electoral act,â€said Ntshona.
He added that the ANC no longer considered the note in Nelson Mandela Bay — where the DA was leading with 49.49 percent — to be “free and fairâ€.
Ntshona went on to highlight several perceived irregularities which he said included a number of missing ballot boxes at voting stations and ballot boxes being transported without adequate security.
“The control of ballot boxes has been inadequate allowing extensive tampering to take place, ballot boxes with marked votes have been found in various locations around the metro with the majority containing ANC votes,†he claimed.
“It seems that these ballot boxes have been deliberately misplaced in order to hide the fact that ANC votes had not been counted on the system so as to avoid any possibility of a re-count.â€
The ANC is also complaining about “systematic evidence of bias†by presiding officers and “DA agents†who he accused of being directly involved in the conduct of elections.
The party also went on to blame poor infrastructure at voting stations in the township areas and to say they had written to the IEC raising their concerns twice before Thursday.
“Thirty-five tents were used instead of buildings and many of these were flooded and blown down on election day, eight voting stations had to be moved resulting in long delays this discouraged township voters from voting and many left after waiting in queues for hours.â€
The ANC is claiming there were attempts to “manipulate†the outcome of the election.
Ntshona said that the ANC would be meeting with its legal team to decide on a cause of action and further explained they were taking this route on behalf of ANC supporters for a “free and fair electionâ€.
Responding to a question, the ANC denied that lodging the dispute had anything to do with the DA taking a commanding lead.
“We have already dealt with these issues long before we knew what was going to happen as far as the results of the election are concerned,â€said Ntshona.
On Thursday, incumbent ANC Mayor Danny Jordaan was nowhere to be fount at the IEC results centre at the East Cape Training Centre in Zwide.
Of Jordaan’s absence, Ntshona said he was resting.
Meanwhile, DA mayoral candidate Athol Trollip met a large group of supporters outside the results centre and told them he was certain of a victory,
“We won Kouga Municipality because the people of Kouga could see what was happening in the Western Cape and they wanted what was happening in the Western Cape, they’ve got it. We have won Nelson Mandela Bay, I don’t know whether we’ve got an out right majority but we will be the biggest party and we will be putting a government together. I know they’ve known the result for hours, they won’t announce it but the facts are the DA will be the biggest party,†Trollip told a cheering crowd.
-African News Agency (ANA)
