CHANGES AS EBC RELEASES CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

MBABANE – The consolidated list of votes that were obtained during the 2023 Primary Elections has been issued by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

However, these results show that some of the candidates actually scored lower votes than what was shared on Saturday or Sunday morning, after the counting at the polling stations.
It should be noted that in some polling stations, votes from His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) for inmates and those in the diaspora were not included at the conclusion of the voting exercise, hence the consolidation of the votes by the EBC. What has brought confusion among some candidates and the electorate is that some of those vying for the political seats now have less votes than those obtained during the primary elections on Saturday.

Expectation

This is contrary to expectation that the numbers would increase, as some polling stations had not added votes that were obtained from the HMCS and diaspora.  Some polling stations had added the special voting numbers, especially those that were collected at Manzini Central High School, Divine Healing Ministries Auditorium as well as Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre last Tuesday. The only votes missing were those from the diaspora and HMCS, where inmates had voted. For that reason, the assumption was that in some polling stations, after the EBC had issued out the votes, they would be slightly higher than the preliminary figures, as changes in terms of winners per polling division were highly likely to occur. On Monday, the EBC, in a press conference, announced a consolidated list of the votes across all the royal kraals in the country. EBC Chairperson Prince Mhlabuhlangene highlighted that there was a huge possibility that the consolidated votes might have changes due to human error.

One of the glaring changes on the list was that of Phondo Inkhundla, Mgazini Royal Kraal. The list had the least votes compared to the ones that were collected on the day. According to the list that was pinned at Mgazini, outgoing Phondo MP Xolani Vilakati had 292 votes and 21 from special voting. Overall, the MP had emerged the winner with 313 votes. Nkosinathi Vilakati, another nominee, had 119 votes, while Mbongiseni Ngcamphalala was listed as having scored 130 votes. However, the list that was issued by EBC yesterday indicated that the outgoing MP actually lost to Eric Dlamini, who obtained 168 votes and was followed by Celani Ginindza with 120 votes, while the outgoing MP, according to the list, was in the third position with 111 votes.

The second confusion that was created by the list, in terms of votes, was under Siphocosini Inkhundla, Luhlendlweni Polling Station. According to the votes that were counted on Saturday, outgoing Siphocosini MP, Mduduzi Matsebula, recorded 339 votes. The consolidated list by EBC, however, indicted that the Matsebula actually had 333 votes. Another notable change was at Kwaluseni Umphakatsi. Inasmuch as that change did not tamper with the overall winning candidate, the changes in the results were extremely noticeable. The polling division stated that Sifiso Shongwe was the overall winner. On the counting day on Saturday, Shongwe had 1 060 votes. On Monday evening, the EBC announced that he had 1 103 votes. Yesterday, the consolidated list indicated that Shongwe had 1 062 votes.

Meanwhile, prior to the list that was uploaded on the website, some candidates under MP category learnt from the grapevine that they were unsuccessful, yet they knew they were overall winners under their royal kraals. One of those was Mbabane East MP candidate Majojo Mamba, who joined the race under Mdzimba Umphakatsi. Mamba said he was told by his electorate on Monday evening and yesterday morning that he actually lost the race. He said he learnt from the EBC offices that he was successful. He had 173 votes and his runner-up, Thoba Dlamini, had 170 votes.

Another MP candidate who was confused was Thulani Nsengwane from Mashobeni Royal Kraal, under Timphisini Inkhundla. Nsengwane mentioned that he also learnt that his runner-up was celebrating, following that the EBC had consolidated all the votes from the polling stations and those from special voting. He said on the day, he had 452 votes. He was relieved after the EBC issued the final list, which showed that he had 554 votes. Under KaMkhweli Royal Kraal, there were also changes but the overall winner remained Nomalungelo LaZwide Simelane with 998 votes. However, changes were noted in other candidates, as Gcina Dlamini, who the preliminary results indicated to had bagged over 500 votes, while on the consolidated list he was announced to have obtained 341 votes. According to the consolidated list, Simelane’s runner-up was Busisiwe Matsenjwa with 394 votes and was followed by Dlamini with 341 votes.

Confusion

Following the confusion that was caused by the announcement of the consolidated list, EBC Communication Officer Mbonisi Bhembe mentioned that the list, more especially the one that was announced on Monday evening, was bound to have human error. He went on to explain that those who heard through the grapevine that they were no longer winners ought to have contacted the commission instead of taking things they heard from the streets as gospel truth. “People should learn to use the right channels in order to access the correct information. In terms of figures that might have changes between Monday evening and today (meaning yesterday), we addressed that there might be slight changes,” he said.

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