Durban – The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal has said that it will continue running credible, free and fair elections.
The declaration comes after the IFP expressed concerns over what it regards as irregularities with the voters roll in eThekwini ward 99 on the Durban South Coast. The ward will host a by-election next month, this after its councillor Mnqobi Molefe was killed in September this year.
The ward consists of areas such as Amahlongwa, Craigieburn and eMkhomazi and is considered as having one of the most diverse voters in the metro and KZN.
At a press briefing to announce a joint plan with the DA for the by-election on Tuesday, IFP Treasurer Narend Singh said they had noted some irregularities, including a large number of voters that were allegedly registered under one address.
He further revealed that they had established that the said address was a police station in eMkhomazi. He told the media that upon learning that, they had approached the IEC to register their concern, as they wanted the voting process to be a fair one.
When approached for comment, IEC KZN spokesperson Thabani Ngwira confirmed that they had received an objection on certain people on the ward 99 voters roll.
He explained that objections were dealt directly by the commission and they were expecting a ruling from the commission on Wednesday.
“Objections are not unique to Durban Metro, we also received objections on the voters roll for by elections happening on the 30th of November as well. It has become part of the process that political parties go through to scrutinise the voters roll before a by-election,” said Ngwira.
He added the ward 99 objection has not been concluded by the commission and once the process had been concluded, parties contesting the by-election would be informed. KZN has held a number of by-elections since the local government elections last year owing to councillors getting killed.