BY REGINALD KANYANE

THE ANC waded into the saga between the IEC and the independent candidates in Tlokwe. The party is demanding that the independents stop trying to harass the IEC with their unreasonable demands that the chairperson, Mosotho Mepye should resign.

The party thought the rules governing the IEC were clear and that the independents will do well do familiarise themselves with the workings of the commission.

The independent mayoral candidate in Tlokwe, David Kham said they have sent a letter of demand to IEC. According to Kham, chief electoral officer failed to comply with his duties in term of section 12(2) of the electoral commission’s Act 51 of 1996 and call for his resignation.

ANC provincial spokesperson, Diale Kgantsi said it is very unfortunate for the independent candidates to call for the resignation of the chairperson of IEC.

“We condemn the cheap political stunts pulled by independent candidates in Tlokwe. They need to associate themselves with rules and regulations before they could utter any words.

“IEC is a reputable anatomy which is entrusted by the masses. Independent candidates cannot expect IEC to bring voters to Tlokwe to verify their addresses. Voters do not go and vote for IEC, however they will vote for political parties. So they must stop shifting the blame. This shows incompetence and we believe voters come out in numbers and vote for ANC,” Kgantsi said.

IEC spokesperson, Kate Bapela confirmed that they have received the independent candidates’s letter.

“We have received the letter from independent candidates in Tlokwe. However the letter was forwarded to the Board of Commission. Unfortunately we cannot shed more light on the matter. We will address the matter after discussions,” Bapela said.

Mayoral candidate at Tlokwe local municipality, David Kham said: “The letter was written on behalf of the independent candidates of Tlokwe. Our struggle with IEC is well recorded in several judgments dating so far back as October 2013.

“We have been on the receiving end of bureaucracy spearheaded by the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) that, both actively and passively, was aimed at disenfranchising us,” Kham said.

He claimed that the IEC failed to verify addresses in Tlokwe and they were still experiencing problems.

The IEC was ordered by ConCourt to verify addresses of voters in Tlokwe before local government elections on August 3. The last opportunity for address verification was last weekend on June 25-26.

-TDN

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