DA welcomes ruling on recount in Renosterberg  

8 September 2016 

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the ruling by the Electoral Court of South Africa, in Bloemfontein, that the IEC must do an entire recount and re-verification of the votes in Ward 2 of Renosterberg municipality in the Northern Cape. 

This comes after DA councillor, Hendrik Booysen, lodged a complaint with the IEC, based on irregularities that took place during the counting of the votes during the local government elections on the 3 August 2016. 

Based on the old count, the ANC took Renosterberg municipality with an overall majority of 52,09% with the DA coming in at second place with 41,53%. 

Based on the observations of party agents in Ward 2, and an assessment of the situation by Booysen, a strong possibility exists that a recount may alter the outcome of Renosterberg Municipality. Currently, the ANC holds four positions on council while the DA holds three. A recount could possibly see the DA gain an additional Proportional Representative (PR) seat, tilting the balance in favour of the DA.   

Renosterberg municipality is one of the worst performing municipalities in the Northern Cape and was previously placed under administration – a change in political leadership in Renosterberg municipality will root out corruption, increase job creation and improve service delivery for the people of Petrusville, Phillipstown and Van der Kloof.    

The DA eagerly anticipates the outcome of the Renosterberg recount.

We are also awaiting rulings on complaints and objections that were submitted to the IEC following similar irregularities at other voting stations, such as Wards 1 and 2 in Hantam municipality. 

Most notable will be the ruling on objections to vote rigging in Brandvlei (Ward 3), also of the Hantam municipality. Our suspicions in this regard are based on the fact that the number of ballots issued did not tally with the number of ballots counted.   

The DA calls on the IEC to ensure fairness and transparency in the handling of the Renosterberg recount, as well as any other subsequent recounts. All ballot papers of 3 August are in possession of the IEC. The IEC therefore needs to act with the highest level of integrity to ensure that the outcomes reflect the democratic principles on which this country is founded.

Issued by Andrew Louw, DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader, 8 September 2016