EFF questions IEC election dates amid fraud allegations

The Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF) 3rd National People's Assembly held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Saturday has ignited a fierce dialogue on electoral integrity, propelled by a vigorous critique from the party's deputy president, Godrich Gardee.

Gardee alleged that the practices of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) contribute to systemic electoral fraud, casting doubt on the credibility of elections in South Africa.

Gardee's accusations centre around perceived discrepancies between national and provincial ballots from the recent elections, which he contends have facilitated vote manipulation and undermined the EFF's standing in the political arena. He lamented what he termed a "raw deal" for the EFF in Limpopo, where he asserts that the electoral outcomes are inconsistent with an accurate interpretation of the results.

“You know, IEC, you are not helpful to South Africa,” Gardee declared, as he elaborated on the party's attempts to obtain transparency from the IEC. He highlighted a formal request made by the EFF to print 23,000 result slips for cross-checking the results, which the IEC reportedly denied.

“The result slips captured at the results centre, which are hyperlinked to the results of the 23 pages, will give us a 90-page document. You will find that in the result slips, there are too many cancellations and tampering, which do not match the result slips that you have on your phone,” he asserted with conviction.

But Gardee did not restrict his critique to just discrepancies; he also expressed discontent with the IEC's scheduling of upcoming local government elections for November. He argued that this timeframe is outdated and fails to consider the current political climate. Instead, Gardee suggested a reinstatement of the original election dates, which he noted would adhere more closely to democratic principles.

“If my memory serves me well, the elections were held in November 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ordinarily, those elections should have been held in May or June. The IEC went to the Constitutional Court for a declaratory order to condone their decision for the elections to be held in November due to the national state of emergency,” Gardee stated, underscoring the necessity of returning to a timelier electoral schedule.