Political party goes to court to get seat 'erroneously allocated' to EFF

A North West-based political party has approached the high court in Mahikeng to force the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality in Zeerust to reallocate a seat currently held by an EFF councillor.

They want the seat to be given to the Forum for Democrats (FFD). The urgent court application will be heard on Thursday.

The FFD contested the local government elections in the municipality in November last year. Due to what the party claims is a counting error by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), the seat that was supposed to go to it was allocated to the EFF. The council was installed on November 22, but the FFD identified errors in the allocation of the seats and alerted the IEC.

In its determination on December 8, the commission said its investigations revealed that the number of ballot papers cast in favour of the EFF at that voting station was 19.

However, when the results were recorded in the commission’s database, the number “191” was erroneously recorded.

The IEC said that, as a result, the EFF was erroneously allocated an additional 172 proportional representation (PR) votes.

“Due to the error incorrect allocation of total ward and PR votes (9,206), the EFF was incorrectly allocated six seats.  Based on the correct total of ward and PR votes cast in favour of the EFF (9,034), the EFF should have only been allocated five seats, with the remaining seat being allocated to the Forum for Democrats,” the IEC said in its determination.

After allowing the EFF a period within which to make representations to the commission, and it failing to do so , the commission determined, on December 14 2021, that it would amend the results.

The results were duly amended, and the forum was allocated one council seat.

“Despite the correction of these errors and calling on the council to rectify the position,  the wrong political party still occupies a council seat,” Thabiso Morebantwa, leader of the FFD, said in a founding affidavit filed last week.

The EFF has indicated it will oppose the application and filed papers on Tuesday.

Morebantwa said the EFF incumbent must be recalled and the forum’s representative installed.

“Hence the present urgent application to compel the speaker of the council to take all the steps necessary, forthwith, to reallocate one council seat now held by a representative of the EFF to a representative of the forum.

“I am the forum’s representative. I should be deemed to have been elected as a councillor and sworn in immediately,” he said.

He said after the IEC’s amending of the results, the council has taken no steps to rectify the situation.

The Freedom Advocacy Network, which is assisting the forum in its legal battle, said election results must reflect the will of the voters.

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