In a media statement, 35 smaller parties have demanded that an independent audit, which is not affiliated and captured by government, be conducted. They also want the election to be rerun.(Oupa Nkosi/M&G)
Thirty-five smaller political parties announced on Friday that they were continuing to contest the election process and the results. These parties include the Congress of the People, Women Forward, the African People’s Convention, the African Transformation Movement, the Land Party and Black First Land First.
In a media statement, the parties demand that an independent audit, which is “not affiliated and captured by government”, be conducted. They also want the election to be rerun.
The parties say they have submitted a grievance to the IEC and have sent a letter to a lawyer and are waiting to hear back on a way forward later today.
African Content Movement secretary general, Romeo Ramuada, told the Mail & Guardian that the 35 parties are contesting the election process because there have been too many irregularities.
“We have seen ballot boxes in people’s houses, we have seen voting stations chasing away party agents and on top of that, even where we voted at certain stations, we still got zero votes according to the IEC.”
“This simply shows that the results of the smaller parties were fixed. This election is not free or fair. We are not fighting with the IEC or government, we are saying the IEC must do what is right,” Ramuada said.
Congress of the People MP and spokesperson Dennis Bloem told the M&G that COPE is “part and parcel” of the 35 parties that are contesting the elections.
“Our grievances are the same about the credibility of the process. Double voting is the biggest problem. Why did they [IEC] allow people to vote twice? It is vote rigging that thing,” Bloem said.
In an analysis,the M&G has found little chance of the challenge stopping the results of this election from coming out.
Results update
By 3pm, nearly 90% of the national votes had been counted, with the ANC standing at 57.34%.
With only 10% of votes remaining to be counted, the ANC is in the lead nationally according to the live results at the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa’s results operations centre in Tshwane.
The ANC though, dropped below 50% for the first time in Gauteng, with 78% of national results counted.
Nationally, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is in second place at 21.21%, and the Economic Freedom Fighters are at 10.27%. All three parties have crossed over the 1-million votes mark, with the ANC currently at 8 287 287, the DA at 3 060 568, and the EFF at 1 488 082 votes.
Almost 27-million South Africans registered to vote to elect the country’s sixth democratic administration, with turnout hovering around 65%.