Former president Jacob Zuma has alleged that nine million votes were unaccounted for and told his supporters to “take to the streets” to show their anger.
DURBAN – The police are on standby to repel any attempts at disruptions by aggrieved supporters of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) challenging the May 29 election results.
This as speculation was raging that MKP supporters would revolt against the election results, with party leader Jacob Zuma reiterating on Sunday that the elections were rigged.
Zuma, the former president of the country, alleged that nine million votes were unaccounted for – and told his supporters to “take to the streets” to show their anger.
However, there has been no violence linked to the elections at this stage despite the police being on high alert since the staging of the elections amid speculation that MKP supporters would heed the party leader’s call and take to the streets.
MKP secretary-general Arthur Zwane poured cold water on claims of imminent unrest by MKP party supporters over “rigged” election results. He said it was “mischievous” for the SANDF and police to be on high alert in KZN.
“When we announced that we had been robbed, especially in KZN, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, not a single person can claim that we burnt any building or we were demonstrating.”
Zwane said the party would use legal means in its battle with the IEC.
He stressed that the MKP was not violent, adding: “We are consistent in calling for calm.”
This comes as army vehicles were spotted in the notorious KwaMashu township last week after the elections.
Before the elections, the government left nothing to chance and deployed 17,000 police officers to the violence-prone KZN – a province ravaged by rioters when Zuma was arrested in July 2021.
This stemmed from Zuma’s defiance of a Constitutional Court order instructing him to appear before the then-state capture commission of inquiry chaired by then-deputy chief justice (now Chief Justice) Raymond Zondo.
This led to more than 350 deaths in KZN and Gauteng and R50 billion in economic damage and losses.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure said it would continue to monitor all developments in KZN.
Amid heightened fears in KZN, SAPS commissioner Major-General Fannie Masemola announced the deployment of an additional 300 public order police officers in KZN to deal with any form of post-election violence. This was on top of the 500 troops sent to the province before the elections.
The IEC has refuted the allegations of vote-rigging.
