The Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) area manager in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal has been arrested on suspicion of interference with the ballot papers during election day on Wednesday.
This came after a dramatic incident as the IEC member was accosted by political party members who questioned the delivery of new ballots during voting time and called the police on him.
Ntombifuthi Masinga, KwaZulu-Natal electoral officer, said they were aware of the matter. She understood that it was human error, as it was explained that one box of ballots had been forgotten earlier.
Area manager found a box that was left in storage by mistake
Masinga described area managers as an integral part of the commission’s distribution value chain. They are the direct link between the storage sites and the voting stations, she added.
“The area manager has wanted to top up one of the items that we use at voting stations. When he went to the storage facility to pick up what needed to be topped up, he realised that they had left one box. [It was left] in the morning during the distribution. [So] he decided to take the box back to the voting station,” said Masinga.
“When he got back to the voting station, he was then accosted by members of the political parties. [They] wanted to know ‘what is this box that you are sneaking into the voting station in the middle of the voting process?’.”
Political party members accosted him, but box was still sealed
She said they then checked the parcel and established that it was still a sealed and unused box. It had not been distributed at the time it was expected to be.
She confirmed that the area manager was then arrested and taken in for questioning. This was regardless of whether the box in question was still sealed.
“They wanted him to go and answer at the station. And that box was confiscated by the SAPS as well, as part of the evidence,” said Masinga.
