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INLSA
Photo: Thobeka Zazi Ndabula
Durban – The busing of voters to polling stations not in their voting district was prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal and a threat to the integrity of the electoral system, the Independent Electoral Commission said on Thursday.
Commission chairwoman advocate Pansy Tlakula told the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg that political parties were behind voters being moved around to create extra support in an area, an activity that was illegal.
She said the busing of voters into wards had led to the electoral court’s postponing the by-elections in the Jozini and the Abaqulisi municipalities in Maputaland.
“We must nip this problem in the bud because, if we don’t, it has the potential to affect the credibility and integrity of our electoral process and the integrity of the commission.”
Although busing had not occurred in a general election, if it was not dealt with in local government elections it had the potential to escalate into a situation where people were bused from one province to another.
Tlakula said political parties should act against any of their members found to have breached the electoral process.
The IFP had raised the concern that Mozambicans were being paid by a political party to cross the border to vote in South Africa using fake identity documents.
The Mercury
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