The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal has moved quickly to investigate allegations of false voter registration in the eThekwini Municipality ward 110 by-election.
The voting was underway on Wednesday in the ward that incorporates the Durban north areas of Glen Anil, Phoenix and Mount Moriah.
The allegations are that there were 135 voters who appeared under the same address in Mount Moriah which turned out to be one bedroom flat listed as 1 Moriah Drive. Further claims were that 79 registered voters gave their address as 2 Mount Moriah Drive which is also a one bedroom flat. Eighty nine voters were said to have been registered using the address of a cemetery near a informal settlement.
In a short statement, IEC provincial spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said the electoral body was made aware of this discrepancy on Tuesday, however, it was after the formal objection process period was closed for the by-election.
Ngwira said nevertheless, the electoral body’s eThekwini Metro office is verifying these figures.
“The voters will be flagged on the voters roll. Should they show up on election day, they will be questioned to verify their addresses before they are allowed to vote. In the sampling that was done by the office, it turned out these are the people were registered some time ago,” said Ngwira.
He said further verification has revealed that people registered using an address that turned out to be a cemetery near an informal settlement had recently registered online, adding that should they also show up on election day, they will be taken to the informal settlement to point out their homes.
The ward is being hotly contested by the DA, Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) and the ANC. It had previously been under the DA and became vacant when the party fired its councillor. The DA appeared to have enjoyed the majority support previously, however, after the inclusion of Mount Moriah which is a settlement of RDP house beneficiaries and informal settlements, the DA may find it difficult to retain the ward.