THE Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is pleased with the ruling of the Electoral Court handed down in which Nongoma Ward 11 was awarded to the IFP following a flawed by-election held on 23 October last year.
The IEC considered the objection lodged in respect of the results and upheld the party’s complaint.
An investigation revealed that 20 unstamped ballots had not been counted and these would have changed the results of the by-election.
The names of the 20 voters who cast special votes in the Voting District 43500585 were not crossed off the segment of the voters’ roll.
The number of voters’ names crossed off the segment of the voters’ roll at the Nzobo Primary School voting station also did not reconcile with the number of marked ballots in the Commission’s possession for that voting station.
In light of the above, the IEC decided to uphold the objection and referred the matter to the Electoral Court for a decision.
The Electoral Court ordered that the appeal be upheld and that the presiding officer and/or the counting officer be directed to stamp and mark the ballot papers in respect of the special votes in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
The Electoral Commission was ordered to amend the result to: Nkosinathi Mzukhona Nzimande (IFP) – 895 votes, Nombuyana Samuel Ncube (NFP) – 893 votes, Nhlanhla Michael Mthembu (ANC) – 711 votes.
The IFP’s Lourens de Klerk (MPL) said, ‘The IFP feels vindicated by this ruling. We knew all along that we had won that ward, but that it was taken from us irregularly.
The IFP said the victory belies the statements by the many doomsayers who had written the party off following the by-elections in Nongoma.
