The IEC has urged political parties to avoid spreading inaccurate claims about election integrity, warning that such statements risk undermining public confidence ahead of upcoming municipal elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has dismissed allegations by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) that votes were swapped during the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, saying the claims are inaccurate and risk undermining public confidence in the electoral system.
The IEC said it noted with concern what it described as sustained and inaccurate statements about the management and integrity of election results, warning that repeated false claims by political leaders could damage trust ahead of upcoming municipal elections.
The commission was responding to remarks made in a podcast featuring the EFF leader Julius Malema, in which he alleged that votes at Mponegele Primary School in Polokwane, Limpopo, were swapped and that his party’s votes were incorrectly attributed to the African National Congress (ANC).
The IEC rejected the allegation, stating that the results slips in its possession confirm that the Mponegele Primary School vote count matches the results captured on its official Results System.
