The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it plans to take the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to court after losing the Tshwane Council Speaker position on Monday.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) Councillor, Mncedi Ndzwanana was elected as Tshwane Council Speaker, after receiving 105 votes.
This comes after former Speaker Dr Murunwa Makwarela left the post to become the mayor, a post he held for just two weeks.
The DA-led multi-party candidate, Kholofelo Morodi from Action SA, received 37 votes.
She was compromised by the DA Caucus after they voted with their own special mark to identify who the councillors voted for.
The party delivered 69 spoilt votes. The DA has rejected Ndzwanana as Speaker and accused the IEC of unfairness.
DA’s Cilliers Brink says his party’s members made a marking of their own on the ballot paper for the sake of transparency.
“Whatever you do on the ballot paper whether it is a cross, circle, a number an initial you indicate clearly our intention. And if you do not exceed the bounds of the little box next to the candidate that you want and if you make your intention clear that is a valid vote. So we believe the IEC has erred here today and we believe this s reviewable.”
The DA’s Cilliers Brink on the tensions at the Tshwane Council :
The voting process for a new speaker was disrupted on Monday due to a scuffle between political parties, resulting in the IEC deciding it was not free and fair.
