EFF leader Julius Malema has commended the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), saying it did a splendid job in organising and managing this week’s municipal election. He also welcomed the use of new technology in the polls.
Malema told a media briefing at the IEC results operations centre in Tshwane on Thursday that while there were some technical glitches with the voter management devices (VMDs), which the IEC had introduced for the first time in this election, their introduction should be welcomed.
“The small glitches and technical problems experienced in our wards and voting stations are to be expected during this period where you had to organise elections within such a period of time,” said Malema.
“Some voters didn’t find their names on the voters roll. But we are happy this matter was brought up, hope going forward, matter will be fixed … Despite glitches in some areas, the introduction of technology must be embraced. The devices kept rebooting.”
The devices had been commended for preventing double voting. Malema said the VMD could give detailed information about a voter including their gender, race and age, among others.
Malema commended the IEC officials for a “job well done”, saying they conducted the elections in a dignified way.
The other grievances raised with the IEC include problems where registered voters did not appear on the voters roll. Voters who had registered a change of address were also unable to cast their vote as a result of the new information not being captured and IEC staff not been adequately trained.
Undertrained and “incompetent” presiding officers were another problem raised by political parties.
On Wednesday, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) released its findings of the election satisfaction survey it conducted, showing that voters were generally happy with the voting experience and the IEC in general.
The survey, which was aimed at determining the opinions and perceptions of voters regarding the freeness and fairness of the electoral process, sampled 300 voting stations across the country. There were 23,000 voting stations around SA.
According to the HSRC, which is known for large-scale surveys that inform policy direction in the country, 96% of voters expressed general satisfaction with the “quality of services rendered by electoral staff to voters”, while 3% expressed a neutral position and 1% was dissatisfied.
Meanwhile, with 99% of the vote count completed by 1pm on Thursday, the ANC’s voter support was at 45.63%, DA 21.52%, and EFF 10.33%.
“What’s more exciting is that the ANC has gone below 50%. I’m the happiest man. We are extremely excited,” said Malema.
“Whether it’s the EFF, the DA, or any other one who reduces the ANC majority to humble them, then we are happy. The strategic objective is: the ruling party of thieves and gangsters that have turned against black people must get out of power.”
“When major political parties are declining, the EFF stands firm and grows. The EFF has now demonstrated to many that it’s not a tribal or regional organisation, it’s a national organisation with a national footprint,” he said.
Malema said it was obvious that the electorate was not ready to be led by the EFF government, “but it [EFF] can lead them through a coalition government”.
He said the EFF was open to holding coalition talks with any political party. He said the EFF was prepared to vote for any political party that committed to land redistribution and provision of water to communities, among other conditions.
“We are not going to do a coalition of positions. We are prepared to vote for people to go to government, as long as we have an agreement with them. We can vote for you, we don’t want positions, but let’s agree on … implementable programmes with time frames,” he said.
The DA has said it was not willing to go into a coalition arrangement with the EFF, while ActionSA has said it was willing to work with both the DA and the EFF.
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