Police on Saturday reported that they have opened a case and are investigating a burglary at the IEC offices in Houghton, Johannesburg. The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon.
According to the police report, the suspects gained entry through the front door. At the moment they don’t know what was taken as the computers are still in the Office.
But all the drawers are open and papers are strewn all over the floor. The IEC’s Gauteng Provincial Electoral Officer, Thabo Masemola’s office door is also broken.
Office complex has 24-hour security
The complex has 24-hour security, and police and the IEC remain puzzled by the incident or how it might have happened.
The IEC has been dealing with a series of legal issues around the upcoming national and provincial elections next month. Recently, the commission approached the Constitutional Court to appeal the Electoral Court’s ruling that former president Jacob Zuma can stand as a candidate for his newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party).
This after the IEC had disqualified him on grounds of having a criminal record. The said record refers to his imprisonment in 2021 for contempt of court.
The 2024 elections are also the most hotly contested elections since South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Thirty years later, the ruling party is battling a series of internal issues, chief of which is the former president himself, who still declares himself an ANC member. This despite the ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula saying that Zuma is no longer an ANC member.
Hotly contested elections since SA’s first democratic elections in 1994
Experts also predict the ruling party losing a huge chunk of votes to MK Party and other parties as voters grow despondent with the ANC and its problems, chief of which is corruption.
Its latest senior member, former speaker of parliament, Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula, resigned after she was implicated in corruption that took place when she was Minister of Defence. She is currently out on R50,000 bail.
The IEC offices break-in could also be linked to the overall crime in the country. An issue that has also become a problem and cause for concern with voters.
At the time of publishing, no further details around the break-in at the IEC offices were available.
This is a developing story.
