The South African

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have declared that should alleged voter fraud happening in various wards – specifically ward 15 in Mpumalanga – not be urgently addressed, and corruption rooted out of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), they are prepared to forgo electoral process and overthrow the ANC government.

The stunning remarks were made in a statement by the party on Wednesday 9 December after IEC officials were arrested in connection with allegations made by the EFF that their “party agents” had caught the officials tampering with the municipal elections held in November.

The EFF said that they would have “no other choice but to conduct a militant struggle to overthrow a despotic and corrupt regime of criminals” should the IEC not be drained of corruption.

They further alleged that the individuals had been commissioned by the African National Congress (ANC) to carry out the fraud.

The EFF said in a statement that the arrest of three people caught tampering with votes in fraudulently voting in ward 15, Nkomazi municipality, was welcomed.

“These individuals, who do not reside in ward 15, were part of the contingent that has been bussed in by the ANC to steal electoral power,” they charged. The allegations made by the party have been referred to the South African Police Service (SAPS), and The South African will update this article when confirmation of the claims is forthcoming.

“It is a common trend that the EFF has long pointed out, and places the ANC in a generation of failed liberation movements that undermine democracy in power,” the party said.

They said that the arrests included the detaining of presiding officer, a zip-zip scanner controller and a voters roll station controller, and added that they suspect that fraud has been happening since the opening of the station, “effectively meaning that the election process in Nkomazi has been compromised”.

The EFF said that they have long believed that the IEC is captured by “corrupt and partisan individuals” and said that they are working with the ANC to rig elections.

“This incident revealed that the Local Government Elections in 2021 must be closely monitored as the ruling party is willing to do anything to retain power,” they said, also demanding a full explanation of what exactly happened in Nkomazi.

they then said that should the IEC not do its utmost to ensure free and fair elections, that they would pursue other, more militant, avenues through which to contest the ruling party.

“It must be noted that we took a resolution to contest political power by any means necessary, and the electoral process is one such avenue. However, if the IEC does not conduct free and fair elections, the EFF will have no other choice but to conduct a militant struggle to overthrow a despotic and corrupt regime of criminals.”