GOOD Media Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
18 July 2023
“I have been told I’m registered at 28 Pulser Street, Borcherds. I have never lived there and don’t even know where that is.”
Those are the words of a young woman from Conville in George, who was granted a special vote in the Borcherds by-election today.
Conville is in Ward 17 where there is no by-election. She was registered at a false address so that she could vote in Ward 20 where a by-election is taking place.
According to the young woman, she arrived home in early June to find “a few DA canvassers at my home in DA t-shirts”. They asked if she was registered to vote and would be willing to vote again, to which she replied, yes.
“On Friday 14 July 2023, I got a phone call from a man who told me to go to vote at Kidstop Voting Station today, 18 July 2023. I also got an sms today at 12h51 telling me I am registered for a special vote and to vote today. I then went to vote in ward 20 this afternoon. I was not aware that I was voting outside my ward.”
The young woman’s statement is consistent with affidavits signed by DA canvassers last Friday that they had unwittingly been drawn into a scheme to re-register a number of Thembalethu residents as residents of an informal settlement in Borcherds, so they could vote in the by-election.
The GOOD Party took this evidence to the IEC, with a request to postpone the by-election (tomorrow is the main voting day) until the voter’s roll had been investigated and unqualified voters disqualified.
The IEC declined the request on the flimsy basis that the period for lodging objections to the voter’s roll closed in June. The fraud was reported to the IEC immediately on being discovered.
GOOD is therefore in the Electoral Court today for an order compelling the IEC to postpone the by-elections while it cleans up the dirt.
- Yesterday, it came to GOOD’s attention that there were 188 voters registered as living in a small home in Borcherds. This information was included in GOOD’s submission to the court today that in these circumstances a free and fair election is impossible.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 518 3264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD Acting Media Manager
Cell: 083 550 9875
Email: media@forgood.org.za