Pretoria - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has cried foul regarding allegations that its senior official Sy Mamabolo had an influence in the election of the ANC Top Seven.
The IEC gave vent after “malicious content' had been disseminated on Twitter and possibly other social media platforms, saying it was part of an orchestrated disinformation campaign around its purported involvement in the ANC’s 55th elective conference.
These allegations were made against the IEC despite the fact that the ANC has its own election agency, which for years, especially since its Limpopo’s watershed conference in 2007, conducted the electoral business of the party.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said the content was designed to impugn the reputation and integrity of the IEC and its officials.
“In what appears to be a WhatsApp conversation, screen grabs of an instruction issued to chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo to ensure the outcome of the elective conference for a sum of money have been tweeted in the last few hours. This content is clearly manufactured and has no basis in reality.
“The Electoral Commission stresses that it does not manage the elections of any political parties. As a Chapter 9 institution mandated to support and defend South Africa’s constitutional democracy, such a practice would be incongruent with its mandate to ensure free, fair and credible elections at all levels of government,” Bapela said.
She said the IEC viewed such malicious content in a serious light, and was taking action criminally and with the relevant social media owners.
“In recent months, the IEC has had to contend with incidents whereby a person with a cellphone number ending in the digits 9791 has been impersonating Mamabolo.
“The IEC pleads with South African citizens to be vigilant and not to automatically trust communication from its leadership. Furthermore, it asks citizens to report any suspicious communication from the IEC’s leadership to info@elections.org.za and the SAPS,” she said.
Bapela said the IEC was prioritising collaborating with the investigative arms of the state to counter incidents of disinformation, as ultimately they undermine the country’s democracy.
She further said after a global rise in disinformation, especially via digital platforms, and its potential impact on elections, the IEC had collaborated with various digital platforms and non-governmental organisation Media Monitoring Africa to counter disinformation during the last two general elections. “The IEC unfortunately anticipates an increase in such incidents in the approach to the 2024 elections,” she said.
As the ANC conference was adjourned to January 5 next year, the National Union of Mineworkers, founded by President Cyril Ramaphosa more than 40 years ago, has welcomed his re-election and the election of six other top leaders.
The union’s deputy general secretary Mpho Phakedi said they viewed the electoral outcome as a reflection of democracy within the ANC.
Pretoria News