ANC to bus voters in to ward, says former Durban councillor

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=141609

ANC to bus voters in to ward, says former Durban councillor
EDWARD WEST
Published: 2011/05/04

JAYRAJ Bachu, an African National Congress (ANC) councillor for 15 years in Durban before his defection to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), yesterday said that the ANC planned to bus voters into a crucial ward in an attempt to rig the elction result.

The “evidence” for his claim about eThekwini’s Ward 23 includes the names and identity numbers of 450 people who will allegedly be used to swell the ANC count .

The IFP recently has accused the ANC of election fraud through rigging the voter registration process , but this is the first claim of proof released by the party .

Ward 23, one of the biggest areas in the eThekwini municipality, and which includes Clare Estate and Reservoir Hills, is traditionally ANC, although Mr Bachu believes the party will get “a good run for their money” during the local government elections later this month .

He alleges that in 2008, residents from the Palmiet Road informal settlement were relocated to Welbedacht. There were two opportunities for them to reregister as voters, in February and March, but the ANC allegedly told them not to do so.

On May 18, he said, they would be bused to Clare Estate to cast their vote at the Bolton Road Park voting station. Mr Bachu provided a list of people relocated to Welbedacht, but who were still on the Bolton Road registration list.

A letter from the Independent Electoral Commission to Mr Bachu said it viewed the allegations with “serious concern” and investigations were under way.

The ANC regional chairman for eThekwini, Raymond Pilani, said he could not comment on the claims because of “protocol”, but he had not seen busing of people during the registration process.

He said the ANC in eThekwini had voted Mr Bachu out of his position in the council because “he tried to do dirty tricks within us. He couldn’t succeed with the forces of the masses behind us.” Mr Pilani said he believed Mr Bachu had joined the IFP because he was angry with the ANC.

Mr Bachu said he left the ANC as he believed its members did not share the nonracialist values of the party and because the IFP’s leadership had not been tainted by corruption.

The Democratic Alliance also alleged that voters had been bused into two of its strongest wards and, “while we have our suspicions, we can’t say who” might have done it , said DA provincial director Michael Beaumont.

He said 300-400 people were bused into Ward 35 of eThekwini during the voter registration period. The area is strongly associated with the DA and includes Umhlanga and La Lucia. As the DA tried to adhere to electoral commission procedures in following up the matter formally, it could not complain before the registration period closed and the matter was not taken further.