The IFP in KwaZulu-Natal has raised grave concerns about the unprofessional conduct of IEC staff towards the IFP at the Mthonjaneni IEC office during the recent by-elections held on Wednesday 17th September.
“We are very perturbed by the unprofessional conduct of the IEC staff. When we tried to lodge a complaint about claims that some ballot papers went missing in one of the voting stations, our representative went to the IEC offices but they were closed and the officials cellular phones were switched off. This is ridiculous because it has not happened in the past that the day after the election the offices are closed. This prompted us to lodge a formal complaint in Durban due to this unacceptable behaviour,” said IFP National Chairperson, Mr Blessed Gwala.
“The IEC must give their staff a thorough induction on office etiquette. We cannot have a situation where people are employed to offer services to the public but they ended up being disrespectful,” continued Gwala.
“We reiterate our call that we reject the by-election results in Mthonjaneni and the IEC must declare them invalid .The IEC must act immediately to deal with these allegations which threatens the essence of a free and fair election,” concluded Mr Gwala.
