The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is publicly calling on the ANC to immediately stop unlawful attempts to take control of Ward 15 in Dawid Kruiper, after hundreds of people from outside the ward were bussed in to unfairly influence voter registration, and the outcome of the upcoming by-election.
It is the residents of Ward 15, not the ANC, who have the right to decide who governs their ward. However, if it were not for alert local activists and councillors who know the community, individuals, who do not live in Ward 15 would have been able to register and unfairly influence the by-election result in favour of the ANC.
The DA strongly condemns the actions of the ANC, including senior leaders and their partners. This includes the Speaker of the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality, Cllr Stanley Peterson of the Khoisan Revolution, who was involved in bringing individuals to a registration station and got into an altercation with activists from other political parties.
We welcome the quick response from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), as well as the action taken by the South African Police Service (SAPS), and Provincial Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Koliswa Otola, after being alerted by DA National Spokesperson on Police, Lisa Schickerling. Their action led to the removal of people trying to register falsely as Ward 15 residents.
This must not end here. Those who misrepresented their registration information, and those who organised the transport for these people, must be investigated and charged for violating the Electoral Act.
We also call on Dawid Kruiper municipality, and the ANC, to also deal with the conduct of the Speaker, Melanie Dodds, who has taken on a caretaker role in the ward after the resignation of the former DA councillor.
She has no right to take political control of a ward where a vacancy has been declared, and even less right to use municipal resources for ANC-related activities aimed at influencing the election.
These actions expose the ANC’s desperation to stay in power and their disregard for the rules. This is dangerous for democracy at all levels of government and must be stopped.
Citizens of Ward 15 deserve a free and fair by-election on 13 May. This is also important to protect the integrity of the upcoming Local Government Election.