DURBAN - AFRICAN People’s Movement (APEMO) party founder Vikizitha Mlotshwa has accused the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) of rigging results in an election which he says his party candidate should have won in the Okhahlamba Municipality.
Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday Mlotshwa said he had lodged an official complaint against the official who he accused of deliberately altering results which showed his party had won ward 14.
He said his party had scored 381 at a certain voting station but when the official went to submit results he altered it to 38 votes, adding when he confirmed with the party agent and the presiding officer that the result was 381 not 38.
In another complaint, Mlotshwa said he found out that in ward 10 not even a single vote had been cast for his party which shocked him because his party agents had confirmed that they voted.
Again after querying this, the presiding officer agreed that it was a mistake and the ward was won by an APEMO candidate.
“There is a lot of corruption going on here and we wonder how many votes were rigged which we did not pick up. We do not believe that these are the only ones. What worries us is that these two wards we won were given to one particular party which is losing in this election dramatically,” said Mlotshwa.
APEMO representative who is overseeing election results for the party, Mandla Khumalo said after resolving the issue of these two wards his party would remain with four wards and with the allocation of proportional representative seats on Friday they were hoping to form a government with other parties since there is no party which has won on outright majority.
In terms of the latest figures, the IFP has won eight wards but was short to govern alone according to its local leader Sanele Buthelezi.
IEC provincial spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said disputes would be first dealt with by the local and district offices but if still unresolved they would be brought to the attention of the provincial office.
Mlotshwa who is former NFP provincial chairperson and a legislature member formed his party early this year but worked behind the scenes because he was still an NFP legislature member until he resigned in August to work full time as a leader of the party.
He was a mayor in 2006 under the IFP but left with the late Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi in 2011 to form the NFP.
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