Boxes of ballot papers discovered at voting station after election day
In ward 93 ballot boxes were found on site, with blank ballot papers, IEC stamps, ink and spoilt ballot papers.
Three sealed ballot boxes were discovered in a hall when staff opened Umbogintwini Primary School on Thursday morning, 9 May. School principal, Verity Eustice, informed ward 97 councillor Andre Beetge, before taking photos of the boxes and locking the hall.
Beetge called Toti SAPS, who immediately dispatched an officer to the school. The SUN accompanied Beetge and the SAPS officer into the hall to verify three boxes, still sealed with ballot papers inside, were left on the stage, along with an IEC banner.
“When I contacted the IEC area manager, he thought nothing of it. He said the same applied to all his voting stations, both urban and rural, as his vehicle wasn’t big enough to fit all the ballot boxes. He appeared content that the IEC had secured the final voting slips and was of the opinion that the actual ballots were only for auditing purposes. I don’t know how accurate an audit would be if none of these stations were secure,” said Beetge.
“When he visited other stations in the area on Thursday morning, he encountered only third party security with no access control. In ward 93 ballot boxes were found on site, with blank ballot papers, IEC stamps, ink and spoilt ballot papers. “At one station there was even an empty IEC pouch left behind,” said Beetge. The DA and Beetge immediately reported it to the IEC. “We expressed concern about the possibility of future fraud and the lack of IEC material being disposed of properly.”
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By noon Beetge received confirmation from the IEC that a request had been sent out to secure all material to a central location. “Such a pity that there is this tendency in South Africa that one first has to question or complain before something gets done that was supposed to be done a certain way from the start.”
The SUN sent queries to the IEC KZN office regarding the materials being left at voting stations and whether a recount of votes is on the cards. “The matter has been escalated to the Electoral Operations Division. They will be in touch with you in due course,” said Lynette Opperman of the IEC Contact Centre.
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