At least 99 voters have deregistered from the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) voter’s roll in the Free State over the past year. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
At least 99 voters have deregistered from the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) voter’s roll in the Free State over the past year.
The increase in deregistrations has raised suspicions in the ANC about why a group of people would sign out of the democratic process.
ANC members have suggested it is part of a “plot” to undermine their majority in the province.
IEC spokesperson David Mandaha said that in the last financial year, at least 99 registered voters in certain segments of the Free State voters’ roll had voluntarily deregistered.
In 2021/2022, one person deregistered from the IEC’s voters roll in the Free State province while in 2022/20 22 three deregistered and 33 people deregistered in 2023/2024.
Mandaha confirmed that there had been a “relative rise” in the number of deregistrations in this fincial year.
He said deregistration as a voter means that citizens are abdicating their right to elect public representatives and relegating this to others.
A registered voter wanting to deregister must complete a deregistration form and submit it in person, along with their identity document, to a municipal electoral office, in accordance with section 10 of the Electoral Act and voter registration regulations. The local office will forward the forms to the national office.
Mandaha said the procedure is designed to protect citizens’ franchise rights against arbitrary actions or undue influence.
Senior ANC leaders the Mail & Guardian spoke to said they are aware of some voters being offered R7 000 a month to deregister.
One source, who declined to be named, claimed she was approached and promised R7 000 monthly, provided it could be continually proven that she remained deregistered.
She said this required her to visit her “handler” at the beginning of each month to prove that she was still deregistered.
“They said that as long as we prove we are deregistered, we would receive the money. They did not say where they were from.”
When further questioned about whether she had received the payment or completed the deregistration, the source declined to comment further.
The African Content Movement (ACM) said it does not know anything about the alleged bribery or voters deregistering, with its leader, Haludi Motsoeneng, saying he did not think it was possible.
ActionSA provincial chair Patricia Kopano said this was the first time she had heard about this, questioning whether people are allowed constitutionally to do this.
“How can you deregister yourself, it’s like removing yourself from the National Population Register Act. It is only through home affairs [department] through the death certificate that you can be deregistered. To go to the extreme that I want to deregister, I’ve never heard of that,” she said.
Kopano said the only way to change the government is through the ballot paper, adding that if one is registered, they can abstain rather than go to the IEC to deregister.
She said the party would open criminal charges against any people involved in such a scheme because this was unconstitutional and undemocratic.
“There’s a loophole in the IEC, they must make sure why a person is deregistering. As ActionSA, we believe this is a criminal offence. Any political party that is encouraging people not to go and vote is unconstitutional.”
“We are also advocating that it must become a law where people must be forced to go and vote. In other countries, it is a criminal offence if you don’t go and vote.”
Independent elections analyst Wayne Sussman said he has never heard about people deregistering before, because people preferred to just stay away from voting.
He said usually people get deregistered when they die or immigrate.
“Usually when people do not participate in an election, it is when they simply do not show up to vote. We know that in the last three consecutive major elections, we have had the worst turn out — the elections in 2019, the local government elections in 2021 and the one in the national elections in 2024.
“I am not familiar with this deregistration campaign. I mean R7000, if it is a successful campaign and you do that properly, that’s going to be a lot of money.”
An IEC source told the M&G that in recent months, several people had visited the IEC offices to deregister in the Free State.
The official said that although the Constitution allows for voter deregistration, the number of requests has “raised eyebrows”.
“To be honest, it dropped a bit last month, but there was a time when we were processing a large number,” the official said.
“It started with black voters, but in the past two months, we’ve seen more white people deregistering.”
The official confirmed that a provincial meeting had taken place to address the surge in deregistrations.
“I know the local municipal party liaising committee members (MPLC) has also discussed this thing, because they were made aware [of it].”
The official dismissed allegations that IEC staff were involved in bribery, saying: “People make baseless accusations. Some say they’re deregistering due to poor service delivery — it’s a political strategy. But ultimately, these people are choosing to remove themselves and they know they can register again later if they want.”
Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae said she was first made aware of the allegations last month, with initial reports emerging from the Mantsopa local municipality.
Letsoha-Mathae said she knew of an ANC woman who was approached to deregister and she had asked the mayor of the municipality to verify the claims.
“Indeed, they found that the particular person was no longer on the register. I am not sure if she removed herself,” said Letsoha-Mathae.
She added that mayors of various municipalities have been instructed to request affidavits from people who claim to have been offered money to deregister.
“They are hesitant to come forward and submit affidavits to municipalities … We’ve said that during this registration period, there is a need to engage those who’ve been identified, and we hope they will comply.”
Letsoha-Mathae characterised the allegations as sabotage against the ANC.
“If people known to be ANC activists are being paid not to vote so that other parties can gain support, then it is sabotage.
Free State police spokesperson Mmako Mophiring said police were not aware of the allegations and that no case had been opened in this regard.
The ANC has traditionally maintained strong support in the province despite a collapse in service delivery.
But, in the 2021 local government elections, the ANC lost control of the troubled Maluti-a-Phofung municipality and entered into a coalition with smaller parties.
The ANC also lost its outright majority in the Metsimaholo and Matjhabeng local municipalities.
In the May 2024 national elections, the ANC secured 52.88% in the province — a decline of more than 10% from the 62.9% it achieved in 2019.
A senior ANC official in the province said that known ANC supporters were allegedly being offered money to deregister, but they could not confirm whether IEC officials were involved.
“As things stand, we don’t have evidence of who is paying or promising these individuals money.”
The official claimed that “multiple parties” were attempting to sabotage the ANC. “These people are discouraging communities from voting to reduce support for ANC-led municipalities. It’s happening particularly in ANC-led wards.”
The official said the IEC has confirmed that some people have deregistered but noted that it remains unclear whether they were paid to do so.
“We are not certain if MPLC members from different parties are collaborating with IEC officials,” they added.
Dihlabeng local municipality mayor Tseki Tseki said he is aware of the issue and that it has been going on for several months.
“While I may not know the reasons behind their deregistration, it appears to be a targeted attempt against the ANC ahead of next year’s elections,” he said.
“The stakes are high, and perhaps the aim is to reduce the number of ANC councillors, given the narrow margins. This may be a desperate attempt to unseat the ANC.”
Tseki said the alleged practice was undemocratic. “This is not good for our democracy. Given our country’s history, when people were denied the right to vote, it is unacceptable that anyone would now discourage others from participating in the democratic process.”
He said the ANC would intensify voter registration campaigns.
“There may be some who have deregistered, but more people will register. There will still be registration weekends before election day. We must ensure all eligible voters are encouraged to register and vote for the party of their choice.”