Voters want Macford disqualified

NKHANINI – Former Minister Macford Sibandze may have won the elections with a sizable margin, but a majority of voters in his constituency want him to be disqualified and fresh elections held.

Sibandze managed to obtain 685 votes, beating his tight contender Webster Lukhele with 160 votes. Webster was second with 525 votes. Soon after the counting, supporters of Lukhele and other aggrieved losers hired a kombi and boarded cars to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) offices where they laid complaints citing alleged unprofessional conduct by competitors, the police and EBC officers.

 “They had started taking voters at 8am, yet they closed at 5pm,” said Lindiwe Mabuza. Allegations were also made that voters who were strangers at Makholweni were allowed to participate. “For starters, police officers grabbed me by my clothes and pushed me out when I complained that there were fraudulent voters at the station,” said an angry Mlungu Dlamini.

Another, aggrieved voter alleged that one of Sibandze’s campaign managers was seen depositing ballot papers in the ballot box, saying they were from the Salesian special voting centre. “It is supposed to be the job of polling officers to deposit ballot papers in the box.”
Others showed up at the EBC offices carrying evidence in the form of E20 notes, which they alleged were distributed by people aligned with Sibandze.

Others were digging Sibandze’s past, especially when he was Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs.
The EBC Public Relations Officer Sabelo Dlamini confirmed that complaints were lodged and that the EBC was still considering them.

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