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VOTERS BEING ILLEGALLY REMOVED FROM ROLL - MPS

By KWANELE DHLADHLA | 2023-07-11

Members of Parliament (MP) have made scathing allegations about an ongoing trend where unknown people illegitimately canvass for the removal of voters from their designated constituencies and threaten masses not to vote for some individuals or face dire consequences.

The action, which has been condemned by MPs who called upon Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Pholile Shakantu to instruct the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to swiftly take stern action, allegedly happened as part of the ongoing voters roll validation exercise, which ends tomorrow.

This came to the fore during the debate of the Elections (Amendment) Bill of 2023, which was passed by the House of Assembly with amendments communicated by Senate.

Gilgal MP, Kenneth Fakudze, said he had learnt of a trend where voters were being frantically removed from the roll because they were believed to be supporters of a potential candidate.

He wondered whether it was legal to conduct such an action because the people responsible for removing or lodging complaints about the inclusion of some people in the roll had no basis except to say they were not known to them

“The people who call for removal of voters from the roll neither can explain where they expect the person they want removed to eventually vote nor do they have valid reasons why they should be removed.

This is very worrying and we would like to call upon the EBC to act on it,” Kunene said.
Fakudze also urged the minister to clarify whether it would be possible to remove a voter from the roll without their knowledge and what protection could be provided by EBC to ensure that people do not get removed unfairly.

Deputy Speaker and Mhlangatane MP, Madala Mhlanga, concurred that he had learnt of the trend referred to as weeding (kuhlakula).

He rhetorically asked who had mandated the group going around the polling stations calling for removal of people from the roll. Mhlanga said in his home area, some of the people who the group calls for their removal were genuinely from the area, which was reason to be worried.

“There is a loophole with regard to the removal of people because some of them are known to be from the area,” Mhlanga submitted. The deputy speaker went on to request that EBC resolves the allocation of polling stations, especially in his home area. Ndzingeni MP, Lutfo Dlamini, asked whether a voter could be removed from the roll without their knowledge.

He also claimed that the people who were calling for removal of some voters were not even known in the constituencies where they visited to inspect the voters roll. “Only the EBC must be mandated to remove a person from the voters roll after thorough interrogation that indeed they were not from the area in which they claim to be,” said Dlamini.

To drive his point home, he said it was worrying that some people seemed to have ulterior motives when objecting on the inclusion of some voters in the roll.

He said he had been previously lucky to have won a case where his election victory was being challenged by people who were competitors while he was in a coma yet the people who had voted for him were content with his success.

“No one has been nominated as yet. Therefore, no individual has a right to be concerned who should be voted where,” Dlamini submitted. Dlamini also claimed that there were also threats being made on voters. He said the voters, especially the elderly, were now being threatened not to vote for certain individuals or they will face dire consequences.

“The election must be true, free and fair,” Dlamini emphasised. When providing clarity, Shakantu explained that only the EBC was mandated to remove a voter from the roll.

She said that removal could only be done soon after engaging with the voter and determining whether the objection was truthful and with no intent to disadvantage a than from exercising their right to vote. “The EBC will make inquiries, interrogate and engage with the voter before any removal from the roll,” Shakantu assured.

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