MK Party deeply concerned about mysterious 2-hour system crash at IEC's Results Operations Centre
31 May 2024
The MK Party voices its grave concerns over the recent, inexplicable system failures at the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) Results Operations Centre. The crashes encompassed the IEC's dashboard, election results screens, website, and mobile app, persisting for approximately two hours. These incidents are not isolated but are part of an ongoing pattern of systematic failures and unexplained occurrences, such as the loadshedding at voting stations during a period devoid of scheduled national loadshedding.
These anomalies raise substantial questions about the integrity of our electoral process and suggest potential misconduct of some intention to rig the elections. What is also of concern is how all these systematic failures are occurring at the IEC, when Telkom as their service provider is known to deliver and manage world class Tier 1 IT and telecommunications services that shouldn't lead to these kind so called glitches in the midst of a critical period of vote counting.
It is profoundly troubling that the IEC, despite its substantial budget and pivotal role, apparently lacks robust backup systems and adequate business continuity plans at such a crucial time. The timing of these crashes—occurring as vote tallying hits a critical phase and as preliminary results indicate a significant voter shift away from the incumbent ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa intensifies our suspicions. Furthermore, the involvement of IEC commissioner Janet Love, a known ally of President Ramaphosa and previously alleged to have manipulated electoral outcomes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, deepens our concerns about the fairness of the electoral oversight.
In light of these circumstances, the MK party urgently calls for the IEC to convene an urgent meeting with representatives from all political parties in order to explain these mysterious 2-hour business failures and provide assurance to us and all South Africans that these anomalies are not attempts to influence the electoral outcomes in favour Ramaphosa-ANC.
We assert that should there be any reasonable doubt regarding the IEC's integrity or the actions of its commissioner, the MK party is fully prepared to take all necessary measures to prevent any fraudulent activities, including pursuing legal action.
It is essential for the stability and future of our democracy that these issues are addressed immediately, ensuring that all South Africans have faith in the electoral process and its outcomes. We remain vigilant and resolute in ensuring that the electoral process is conducted fairly and transparently, truly reflecting the will of the South African people.
Issued by MK Party, 31 May 2024
