The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has urged law enforcement agencies to expedite investigations into allegations that the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) forged signatures to meet candidate nomination requirements.
A former MK Party official has filed an affidavit with the Western Cape police making the allegations, according to a Rapport article on Sunday (28 April).
The official, Lennox Ntsodo, claims that a team of 20 people forged the signatures in February. They also allegedly used jobseeker information from the Cape Metro Council to add names and ID numbers to the party’s signature list. MK Party has denied the claims.
IEC on claims of MK Party forging signatures
In a media statement on Monday, the IEC said it had noted media reports regarding the allegations and Ntsodo’s criminal complaint.
“The Commission calls on the crime investigation authorities to expedite the investigations in order to establish the verity of the allegations made. An expeditious investigation is essential for the conduct of free and fair elections,” it added.
The Commission also confirmed that the candidate nomination system’s signature portal verifies whether the identity numbers submitted by political parties belong to registered citizens or not.
“In other words, this entails establishing whether the person is a citizen, alive and registered on the voters’ roll,” it explained.
However, the IEC reiterated its previous comments that “it would be impossible to establish whether the signatures proffered were indeed of those persons who purport to have given them.”
This is the latest controversy surrounding MK Party, which is led by former president Jacob Zuma. Last week, it expelled several senior officials, including founder Jabulani Khumalo, citing “attempts by external forces to destabilise” it.
The Constitutional Court will also hear an appeal by the IEC against an Electoral Court order on Zuma’s nomination as a candidate for member of Parliament. The Electoral Court set aside the IEC’s disqualification of Zuma earlier in April.
MK Party and the ANC are also locked in legal battle over the former’s use of uMkhonto weSizwe name and logo, which the ANC has staked trademark claim to.
Opinion polls show MK Party may win anything from 8% to 13% in the 29 May elections.