Zuma at IEC: ‘Nobody is going to announce the results tomorrow’ 

The anticipated arrival of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader Jacob Zuma at the Electoral Commission (IEC) Results Centre in Midrand caused a media flurry as he joined 26 other parties to call for an investigation into alleged irregularities during the final hours of the 2024 elections.

The former president said during a briefing that the election results shouldn’t be announced tomorrow until all objections have been dealt with.

Zuma claims MK party has proof of alleged vote-rigging

According to Zuma, the MK party has “proof” that vote-rigging allegedly went on “in the background” when the IEC dashboard crashed and was down for about two hours on Friday morning.

He said that the election process cannot be rushed, adding that his party will be presenting proof to the IEC of the allegations.

“Nobody is going to announce tomorrow unless they were working with us,” Zuma stated.  

IEC will ‘provoke the people’ – Zuma

Zuma, who was flanked by his daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and MK party members, added that if the IEC declares the results tomorrow, it will “provoke the people” and there will be “trouble”.

ALSO READ: Election results 2024: MK party deals game-changing blow to ANC in KZN

MK party requests manual recount

Earlier in the day, the MK party called for a manual recount of the ballots, claiming that the process was “rigged” to prevent it from securing an outright majority in KwaZulu-Natal.

The party wants a recount nationally and in the Western Cape.

Zuma’s daughter has further accused the IEC of being in cahoots with the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the alleged vote-rigging.

ALSO READ: MK party smells blood in KZN: Supporters stage mock funeral for ANC [VIDEO]

When asked for comment on Zuma’s allegations, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the Commission had heard many voices around the elections, but they preferred to focus on the work before them.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the Commission was unaware of the allegations made by Zuma, and it would have received a report from the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) if something was brought to its attention.

Results management system not compromised – IEC

In a press briefing on Saturday afternoon, Moepya assured South Africans that the IEC has been running fair and transparent elections.

Moepya said there was no way the results management system had been compromised.

He also added that the national results board going offline was in no way anything sinister but a glitch that had been resolved speedily.

• Additional reporting by Eric Naki