EFF vows to keep close eye on vote counting
11 April 2019
EFF leader Julius Malema will have party agents at all voting stations across the country to protect opposition parties against vote rigging, he said on Wednesday.
Malema, speaking during a briefing at the party's Johannesburg headquarters on Wednesday, said the EFF and UDM leader Bantu Holomisa wrote to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to find out which information technology companies the IEC had contracted to audit votes.
"There won't be a station in South Africa without EFF ears and eyes. It's a very sensitive one which has got potential of creating a crisis. Holomisa has written a letter to check the IT companies - who own the IT companies; what are their political affiliations. We want to know if the Russians are there. We want to know if the [Israelis] are there. We want to check if the companies are owned by them [Israelis]."
In the 2016 local elections, the DA and the ANC questioned the independence of the IEC.
Then ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and his deputy Jessie Duarte accused IEC vice-chairperson Terry Tselane of being an "enemy", in the presence of former president Jacob Zuma, City Press reported in 2016.
The ANC was reacting to the IEC's decision to reduce the number of teachers who were members of the ANC-aligned SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu). The teachers acted as electoral officers during election time, the Sunday paper reported.
DA leader Athol Trollip at the time also questioned the IEC's independence following the appointment of Sadtu members.
"We are prepared for any eventuality," Malema said at the media briefing. "We are not only looking after EFF votes. That's an instruction to our party agents. Azapo votes, PAC votes, UDM votes, Cope votes - if someone wants to steal it, [we must] look after it, because they [political parties] may not have the capacity we have."
He added the EFF agents were instructed to look after all opposition party votes, including the DA.
"The only vote we are not looking after is the ANC. We are calling upon all opposition parties to do the same. Anything that is aimed at stealing EFF vote - they must not be part of it."
