‘Deliberate actions to trip the electricity’ when votes are being counted
19 March 2024 – 20:55
The IEC says power outages increase during vote counting.
Image: Kevin Sutherland/ File photo
IEC says it’s working with the security cluster to ensure peaceful elections amid threats to stop voting.
Listen to the commission on topical voting issues:
The commission made a presentation to the home affairs committee in parliament on Tuesday on its readiness for the elections. Several committee members raised concerns over intimidating remarks made by the new kid on the political block, the MK party, after it said if its leader Jacob Zuma was not allowed on the ballot paper there would be hell to pay. Its youth leader Bonginkosi Khanyile said there would be no elections. It further threatened that it would not accept “elections of losing”.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbuzo Ntshavheni said there was no discussion in the cabinet on intimidation threats but assured people that South Africa would not be intimidated.
“There is a tendency of increased outages when we start on counting after dark, and those seem to be manufactured, they seem to be deliberate actions to trip the grid for purposes and reasons unknown to us. So we are making contingency plans,” said Masego Sheburi, deputy CEO at the commission for Electoral Operations. In recent years South Africans have experience more intense load-shedding.
On other matters, the commission admitted that court challenges close to elections worried it but did not take issue with parties and people going to court to ventilate their rights.
It said this year has the most people on the voters’ roll at 27,782,477 and it was pleased with the number.
The highly contested election will be on May 29. The IEC said all would be ready because preparation started 18 to 24 months ahead of voting day. The next task is to print the millions of ballot papers and boxes but all will be done by May 8.
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