Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters on Thursday called for an audit of the elections and votes in Gauteng.
“There are many incidents of lost ballots and ballots found in bins across Gauteng, and it appears that the IEC is colluding with the ANC to prevent the reality that the ANC might go below 50 percent in Gauteng,” EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
He said that during the counting of the voting results, the numbers for the ANC in Gauteng were dwindling.
“At exactly 5.59pm the ANC was at 50.21 percent of the Gauteng vote and immediately after that, the Gauteng results started to slow down and almost came to an absolute halt because the ANC was heading towards below 50 percent of the Gauteng vote,” Ndlozi said.
He said the party suspected foul play.
The EFF was demanding the immediate release of the Gauteng results by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
“The IEC should at least have the decency to explain to the EFF why results are being delayed and stop conniving with the ruling party,” he said.
Ndlozi said the provincial leadership had approached the electoral officer to demand an explanation as to why the results in Gauteng were not streaming in, because all voting districts had been counted and captured.
“The provincial elections officer could not give an adequate response and chose to lie that capturing was continuing while such was not the case,” he said.
The party also contacted the chief electoral officer, but he refused to meet the party's national leadership, Ndlozi said.
He said the party was demanding an explanation from the Gauteng provincial elections officer and chief electoral officer.
“The rest of the other issues we have identified about election irregularities will be raised once the final results have been counted in,” Ndlozi said. - Sapa