MK Party supporters hold IEC officials hostage during attempted break-in at KZN facility

· The South African

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed that uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party supporters attempted to force their way into an election material storage facility in Mariannhill, west of Durban, and held IEC officials hostage.

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The incident happened on Monday night, 2 November, on the first day of special vote administration.

MK PARTY SUPPORTERS TARGET IEC STORAGE FACILITY

During a media briefing on Tuesday, 3 November, IEC chief electoral officer (CEO) Sy Mamabolo said the supporters attempted to storm Dassenhoek Library, where election materials are stored, and held IEC officials hostage.

Mamabolo said public order police were called in to disperse the group, secure the officials and protect the election materials.

“Fortunately, the group left peacefully after engaging with the South African Police Service (SAPS). There were similar attempts by MK Party supporters to gain unlawful entry into IEC election material storage facilities in Richmond, uMkhambathini as well as Pietermaritzburg,” Mamabolo said.

On Monday, the IEC in KZN confirmed that empty ballot boxes and voting stationery were stolen during a break-in at Amahlongwa Community Hall in Zambezi under the Umdoni Municipality, a voting station in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday night.

“A case has been opened at Umkhomazi Police Station and the matter is currently under investigation. It will have no impact whatsoever on the process because we always supply more than enough ballot boxes at voting stations. It didn’t affect the ballot boxes that we lease when we conduct home visits, which is the smaller-sized ballot box being used by the teams conducting home visits,” KZN Electoral Officer Ntombifuthi Masinga said.

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