Dudula accuses the IEC of protecting the ANC

Operation Dudula supporters have accused the Electoral Court of protecting the governing ANC.

The members were demonstrating on the sidelines of the Constitutional Court proceedings yesterday as three political parties were slugging it out inside with the IEC in an attempt to secure their spot on the ballot paper.

Ace Magashule’s party ACT, the Labour Party of South Africa and the African Alliance of Social Democrats all want to be able to contest the upcoming general elections on the 29th of May.

The parties have blamed a malfunction on the IEC’s online registration system for their failure to meet the registration deadline.

It’s an allegation the IEC has denied.

However, lawyers for the organisations say the fact that 35% of unregistered parties failed to upload their documents on time, proves the system’s shortcomings.

While the Labour Party is demanding that the elections be postponed, ACT wants two hours to submit outstanding documents onto the IEC’s online portal.

Speaking with YNews, Operation Dudula’s Gauteng leader, Bhekani Thusi, says for the sake of free and fair elections, they must be allowed to enter the race.

He says should the ConCourt dismiss their bid – thousands of people will not be able to vote for the party of their choice.

The vocal leader has blamed the new and faulty IEC system, which according to Thusi automatically uploads the information of majority parties, for favouring established orginisations like the ANC.

“The IEC is an institution that is obviously run by the ANC. So automatically when you are reporting to your principal, you must make sure you are giving a good report,” he told YNews. Written by Naomi Kobbie