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

0 MK Party supporters at an election rally in KwaMashu. Image: X/MK Party Home » News » Elections – Local, National and Municipal » MK Party supporters hold IEC officials hostage during attempted break-in at KZN facility

MK Party supporters allegedly held IEC officials hostage while attempting to force entry into an election material storage facility in KZN.

0 MK Party supporters at an election rally in KwaMashu. Image: X/MK Party 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.

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

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.

[WATCH] IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo mentions instances where MK Party members tried to disturb voting in Mpumalanga and KZN. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/AcPAr35N1X

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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