Tshwane Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) officials are expected to lay criminal charges against the Democratic Alliance (DA) caucus leader Cilliers Brink and councillors Jacqui Uys and Katlego Makgaleng, at the Pretoria Central police station on Thursday morning.
This regarding electoral fraud in the election of the Speaker earlier this week.
The apparently DA forced its members to number their ballot papers, to prove that they voted for the multi-party coalition’s candidate.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declared the DA’s 69 votes as spoilt and invalid.
African Transformation Movement (ATM) councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana then became Speaker, defeating ActionSA’s councilor Kholofelo Morodi by 105 to 37 votes.
The EFF says Brink, Uys and Makgaleng contravened the Municipal Structures Act and Electoral Act, as they instructed DA councillors to vote using numbers assigned to individual councillors, to identify the candidate they voted for in the secret ballot.
The EFF says this constitutes fraud in the secret ballot process.
On Wednesday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said he had advised the Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), MEC Mzi Khumalo to check if the action could be taken against the DA for contravening the IEC’s secret ballot rule.
The DA initially considered interdicting the voting process but was reportedly advised against it.
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