Durban - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has denied allegations that a staff member mistakenly gave the ANC a wrong bank account number, hence their registration fee was wrongly deposited and they ended up missing the by-election in Mtubatuba on Wednesday.
This claim was made earlier this week by the ANC in the Nokuhamba Nyawo region (Umkhanyakude) after the ward was eventually and effortlessly won by the IFP.
It claimed that by the time the mistake was rectified, they were disqualified and they took the matter to the Electoral Court – which dismissed its application late on Tuesday.
UPDATE: The IEC has denied allegations that a staff member mistakenly gave the ANC a wrong account number, hence their registration fee was wrongly deposited and they ended up missing the by-elections of Mtubatuba on Wednesday.
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“Within the processes, Municipal Electoral Act requires that a certain amount be deposited within the set deadline on the elections timetable.
“As the ANC in the region, we complied accordingly.
"Unfortunately, during the processes undertaken by the bank, it was later discovered that a bank official had made an error when writing an account number.
“The error was picked up and addressed with the bank and IEC officials.
“Eventually, the bank transferred the amount to the correct IEC account after consensus had been reached.
“We were later shocked after being informed about our disqualification, despite having corrected the error as directed by the IEC.
“Armed with all evidence pointing to compliance including our interaction with IEC, we decided to take legal action,” the party claimed.
It added that the glitch means that the IFP in the Mtubatuba local municipality will now not be held accountable.
“The ANC will continue with the legal route until amicable solution is reached, without, of course, neglecting its responsibility of service to the people.
“This is unfortunate for the people of ward 9 and Mtubatuba as a whole, as it indirectly subjects them into the unguided reign of the directionless opposition party that prioritises entertainment over providing basic services to our people,” it said.
After taking flak on social media following the IOL article carrying the claims of the ANC, the IEC denied the allegations.
The IEC said: "There was no mistake in the account details given to this (or any other) candidate who intended to contest this (or any other) by-election.
“Invoices are system-generated and candidates make payment directly or through our Online Candidate Nomination System," it said.
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