Way beyond the IEC threshold? MK party accused of hiring team to forge signatures

It has been a bombshell week for the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party: Former president Jacob Zuma purged the newly formed party of some top leaders while claims surfaced that it has extensively forged signatures to qualify for the 29 May elections.

The forgery allegation was made by a former senior official of the party in a statement submitted to the Western Cape police last week.

MK party: ‘Mass forgery’ claim

According to Rapport, Lennox Ntsodo states in his affidavit that he appointed a team of about 20 people in February to assist with the mass forgery of signatures after the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) rejected the MK party’s initial application for registration.

The team allegedly fraudulently obtained names, identity numbers and cellphone numbers of jobseekers from a database of the Cape Metro Council. They also acquired personal details of members of a funeral association.

Rapport claims that it has seen the evidence Ntsodo presented to the police, including some of the signed supporter lists submitted to the IEC and information downloaded from the jobseeker database.

Although Ntsodo did not mention the origin of the jobseeker information in his affidavit, Rapport states that it has determined that it belongs to the Cape Metro Council.

The publication called 15 people on the supporter lists, 14 of whom denied ever signing an MK party list.

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Request for witness protection

In his affidavit, Ntsodo requested that he not be prosecuted in terms of section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a person to admit their part in a crime – including full disclosure and testimony – in exchange for immunity.

He also requested that he and his family urgently be placed in witness protection, due to fear of retaliation.

How many signatures are required to register?

According to legislation, political parties must submit at least 15 000 signatures of members and supporters to register for this year’s election and appear on the national ballot.

In an article, City Press states that the IEC’s deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi recently admitted the commission did not have a signature database and could not verify whether the signatures on supporter lists belonged to actual voters.

MK party denies claims

Ntsodo alleged in his statement that he and the rest of the team spend about two weeks compiling the forged lists at the house of MK party secretary-general in the Western Cape, Faizel Moosa, in Cape Town.

He claimed he had reported the team’s daily progress to Moosa and the party’s Western Cape chairperson Fumanekile “Fatty” Booi.

Both Moosa and Booi denied any knowledge of Ntsodo’s allegations.

Ntsodo explained in his affidavit that the team first confirmed on the IEC website that the names they wanted to place on the lists belonged to registered voters.

The forms were then filled in and the signatures forged. He expressed regret for his role in forging the signatures and has since resigned from the MK party.

ALSO READ: Here’s why Electoral Court overturned IEC’s decision to bar Zuma’s candidacy

Zuma wields axe in MK ‘purge’

With the latest Ipsos poll predicting that Zuma‘s MK party could receive as much as 8% of the vote on 29 May, the leadership cleanout comes as a surprise.

Those expelled along with party co-founder Jabulani Khumalo, were treasurer-general Rochelle Davidson, Ray Khumalo, Bheki Manzini and Lebo Moepeng.

Sunday Times reported that the purge follows unconfirmed claims of “secret meetings” with ANC leaders and “financial impropriety”.

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