Seventeen people, who allegedly tried to vote twice, will appear in court on Monday in Dannhauser, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Two others were arrested in Hluhluwe and one in Port Shepstone, bringing to 20 the number of alleged double voters arrested in the province alone.
It’s not known at which voting stations the alleged incidents happened. However, police say some were caught in the act after their Identity Documents (IDs) were scanned twice.
It’s reported that others handed themselves over to the police when they learnt that they were being investigated.
The suspects were charged for contravening a section of the Electoral Act. They may also face fraud charges.
More arrests on “double voting”
Two people, a journalist and a woman have been arrested after a video was posted claiming that they have cast votes more than once.
Police state that, “On the day of the elections, 8 May 2019 Etienne Mare (52) posted a video claiming that he was on his way to vote for a second time after hearing from Malinda Halloway (57) that she had been “able to do so herself”.”
On Friday, members for the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga were able to track down the suspects and arrested them.
The police say both Mare and Halloway appeared in the Barberton Magistrates Court on charges of contravening Section 88 (d) Voting more than once, Section 89 (i)(a) Intentional making a false statement, alt fraud and Section 90(2)(a) Infringement of secrecy.
The Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (JOINTS), in a statement on Thursday, promised that all of the social media postings in which people claimed to have voted more than once will be investigated and culprits brought to book.
The scandal has led to the Independent Electoral Commission launching national audits to find out the extent and impact of the trend.
27 political parties have also launched a legal bid to stop the IEC from releasing the disputed results.
Watch the leaders of the Black First Land First (BLF) Andile Mngxitama and African Content Movement, Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s reaction to the 2019 general election results.
