IEC confirms one ballot box lost in transit from voting station in KZN

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed that it lost one ballot box in KwaZulu-Natal during transportation.

IEC general manager Granville Abrahams on Thursday said it lost the ballot box in uMhlathuze, KwaZulu-Natal.

Abrahams said the box was being transported in an open vehicle and when it got to storage, it was missing.

Watch the IEC speaking about the lost ballot box in KZN

Ballot box lost

“The Electoral Commission appeals to citizens in and around Ward 14 uMhlathuze, in KwaZulu-Natal, to be on the lookout for an IEC branded ballot box that went missing in transit from the voting station Matamzana Dube School to the municipal electoral office for storage.

“The ballots in the box have been counted, reconciled, and validated. The Electoral Commission is required, by law, to store ballots cast in general elections for a period of six months. We don’t plan for losing a single ballot box,” said Abrahams.

The IEC appealed to anyone who finds the ballot box to return it to the commission.

“Citizens are reminded that anyone found to be in possession of ballots is liable to criminal prosecution.”

ANC to lose majority

Meanwhile, the African National Congress (ANC) is projected to lose its outright majority for the first time since 1994, with projections suggesting the governing parties support will drop to 42.3%.

The ANC’s potential loss of majority in Gauteng and in KwaZulu-Natal to the former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is also at risk.

The ANC has won all previous national elections since the end of apartheid in 1994 when late Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president.

In 1994, the ANC won 62.5 percent of the vote. In 1999, it won 66.4 percent and in 2004, it reached its highest levels, clinching almost 70 percent of the vote.

In 2009, the ANC won nearly 66 percent, and in 2014, it won 62 percent. In the last election in 2019, the ANC achieved its lowest margin of victory, winning 57.5 percent of the vote.

Ethnic identity voting

On Thursday, Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chair Helen Zille said parties like MK party are “eating away” votes from all parties because people are voting on what she called “ethnic identity.”

Zille said the MK party is an example of an ethnic identity vote.

She stressed that ethnic tribalism voting is not good for South Africa’s constitutional democracy.

“It means people aren’t voting on principles, values or policies. They’re voting on ‘this is my identity,’ and in a democracy you need people to take values and principles, party manifestos, policy and governance track records seriously.

“No one has a worse governance record than Jacob Zuma in our country. Yet, because he is a very senior Zulu-speaking South African, he attracts a large number of votes. Not on principle, values, or policy. And certainly not on a governance track record. It’s a pure ethnic identity vote and you can see what that means for a democracy,” Zille said.

Coalitions

With more than 50% of the official results are expected to become available on Friday, political parties attention is expected to shift to coalition talks.

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