Opinion / Columnist
Five out of five for ANC
11 May 2019 at 20:33hrs | Views
It has been an epic battle at the 2019 national and provincial elections in South Africa with at least 48 parties contesting for the executive and legislative position and positions respectively.
With the campaigns getting hotter as the election day drew closer, some were already thinking that the reign of the ANC had now come to end.
The opposition parties didn't hesitate to smear the ruling party throughout their campaigns bringing out issues of corruption and maladministration that were now corroding South Africa.
The media didn't do any favors to the ANC as it uncovered syndicates after syndicates that were aligned to the ANC.
Although the president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa put up a couple of commission of inquiries with the major one being the Zondo commission into state capture headed by retired judge Raymond Zondo, the opposition were not convinced as all those who were named at the commission of inquiry into state capture are yet to be apprehended.
Regardless, the ANC managed to swerve the electorate through its candidate Ramaphosa. The ruling party managed to secure a national vote of 57% with the main opposition party the DA securing only 20% of the votes a decline compared to their previous performance in 2014.
The head of the ANC campaign Fikile Mbalula was delighted by the performance of the party, "we managed to secure more than 10 million votes and that is a good thing for us."
However, 27 smaller parties served the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) according to the parties, ballot papers were not stamped at the back, people were given different configurations of ballot papers, presiding officers assisting people to vote without any third-party present, unmarked ballot papers, and special votes used a system that utilised two envelopes and some three or four.
"Our clients accordingly are of the view that the IEC is compromised insofar as the objectivity of any audit processes concerned and therefore hereby demand that the IEC by 11am on 11 May 2019, appoints an independent audit firm to conduct the audit it needs to do," the letter read.
"Should the IEC not agree to an independent audit, we hold instruction to approach the Electoral Court for, amongst other things, an order to compel the IEC to appoint an independent audit firm to conduct an audit of the 2019 general elections and to refrain from declaring the outcome of the Commission
Regardless, the IEC said that it wouldn't hold an audit as it was not part of the legislative mandate and also because the elections were free and fair.
With the campaigns getting hotter as the election day drew closer, some were already thinking that the reign of the ANC had now come to end.
The opposition parties didn't hesitate to smear the ruling party throughout their campaigns bringing out issues of corruption and maladministration that were now corroding South Africa.
The media didn't do any favors to the ANC as it uncovered syndicates after syndicates that were aligned to the ANC.
Although the president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa put up a couple of commission of inquiries with the major one being the Zondo commission into state capture headed by retired judge Raymond Zondo, the opposition were not convinced as all those who were named at the commission of inquiry into state capture are yet to be apprehended.
The head of the ANC campaign Fikile Mbalula was delighted by the performance of the party, "we managed to secure more than 10 million votes and that is a good thing for us."
However, 27 smaller parties served the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) according to the parties, ballot papers were not stamped at the back, people were given different configurations of ballot papers, presiding officers assisting people to vote without any third-party present, unmarked ballot papers, and special votes used a system that utilised two envelopes and some three or four.
"Our clients accordingly are of the view that the IEC is compromised insofar as the objectivity of any audit processes concerned and therefore hereby demand that the IEC by 11am on 11 May 2019, appoints an independent audit firm to conduct the audit it needs to do," the letter read.
"Should the IEC not agree to an independent audit, we hold instruction to approach the Electoral Court for, amongst other things, an order to compel the IEC to appoint an independent audit firm to conduct an audit of the 2019 general elections and to refrain from declaring the outcome of the Commission
Regardless, the IEC said that it wouldn't hold an audit as it was not part of the legislative mandate and also because the elections were free and fair.
Source - Daniel Itai
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
