MK Party cries foul over alleged vote discrepancies and system failures in eThekwini

Former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party has raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the 2026 local government election results.

The MK Party has lodged a formal objection with the IEC over alleged voting and counting irregularities in eThekwini, demanding an immediate audit of the disputed results.

In a statement issued late on Friday night, the party said its acting secretary general Lindiwe Makubu had submitted the objection.

“The objection raises concerns regarding reported system failures, discrepancies between electronically captured results and physical results slips, as well as irregularities in the counting, verification and reconciliation processes, particularly within the eThekwini municipality.”

The party also asked the IEC to freeze the processing of all contested ballots, allow independent forensic analysts to examine the count, and fix every outstanding error before declaring the final municipal election results.

“The MK Party regards this intervention as necessary to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, ensure transparency and protect the democratic will of voters.”

It said it would await the Commission's consideration and response to the formal objection.

In a letter to the IEC, Makubu said the party had lodged the formal objection under Section 65(1)(a) and (b) of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000.

“The MKP is a registered political party with a direct and material interest in the integrity, verification, and final outcome of the 2026 Local Government Elections.”

“This objection concerns severe, systemic irregularities during the voting, counting, and subsequent electronic results-capturing phases, specifically impacting the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and targeted Results Operation Centres (ROCs).”

Makubu said the party had placed several alleged irregularities on the official record, which she said were undermining the credibility of the counting and verification process.

Among the concerns raised were alleged system failures and glitches at the eThekwini Results Operations Centre (ROC), which the party claimed disrupted data streams and altered visible audit trails.

The party also alleged discrepancies between electronically captured results and certified physical copies of results slips, Form NP041, completed and counter-signed by party agents at voting stations.

It further raised concerns about alleged failures in the physical verification, reconciliation and sorting of ballots between November 2 and 4.

Makubu also accused the IEC of making public declarations that falsely suggested the MK Party had failed to deploy party agents at various voting stations.

She said the statements served to mask localised system lapses and chain-of-custody breaks, which she argued obstructed the party's constitutional right to oversight.

Makubu said the party had also submitted an application for condonation should its objection be processed after the statutory deadline of 5pm on Friday.

She said the party had established good cause for the application because the alleged system anomalies and capturing errors were ongoing.

“These critical errors could not have been fully compiled or quantified prior to the standard deadline because the data verification cycle remains open and unfinalised.”

“Refusing to hear this objection prior to the official declaration would cause an irreparable constitutional injury to the electorate,” she argued.

The MK Party has also called on the IEC to immediately quarantine disputed electronic data and freeze the processing of results in the affected voting districts and wards in eThekwini until an open audit has been conducted.

Makubu further demanded a forensic technical explanation of the alleged network glitch at the eThekwini ROC, including a verification log of data packets allegedly altered during the downtime.

She also called for an independent forensic systems analyst, appointed by the contesting parties, to be allowed to audit the data-processing backend, source code operations and physical ballot reconciliations.

The party wants the IEC to withdraw its remarks accusing it of failing to deploy party agents and to delay the final announcement and gazetting of municipal election results until all the alleged discrepancies and verification disputes have been resolved.

The objection comes as the counting of votes in the 2026 local government elections continues, with 95% of votes counted nationally at the time of writing the article.

In eThekwini, the MK Party is leading with 41.09% of the vote and 27 seats, followed by the DA with 23.09% and seven seats.

The ANC is at 17.06%, while the IFP has 6.64% and two seats.

At the time of writing, 79% of the provincial votes had been counted.

The ANC, which previously held the majority in eThekwini, has been overtaken by the MK Party in the ongoing count.