The Independent Electoral Commission has cancelled a northern KwaZulu-Natal by-election amid allegations of irregularities.
|||Durban - The Independent Electoral Commission has cancelled a northern KwaZulu-Natal by-election amid allegations of irregularities.
The IEC said in a statement on Monday the Ward 4 election, scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled after “possible irregularities in the registration of voters that was brought to its attention by political role players in the municipality.”
The Citizen reported on Saturday that the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) had lodged papers with the Electoral Court last Wednesday asking the IEC to scrap the Mkhanyakude voters’ roll and to launch a new registration process.
The party has accused the African National Congress of shipping in voters from other wards to register in the ward.
The Jozini by-election resulted from the expulsion of the then incumbent councillor by the province's Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube.
The IEC said the investigations into the allegations could not be completed by the time voting was due to start on Wednesday and this had necessitated the cancellation. - Sapa