SA polls: Zuma’s threats won’t delay election results, says IEC

South Africa’s electoral commission (IEC) says it will declare election results later Sunday, as planned.

Jacob Zuma, former South African president and leader of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, had warned the IEC not to declare the election results.

In a late-night press briefing on Saturday, Zuma claimed that the MK party has “proof” that vote-rigging allegedly went on “in the background” when the IEC dashboard crashed.

The former president said no one must force or rush the party into believing that the election ran smoothly.

The party rejected the results and called for a recount.

Mosotho Moepye, the IEC chairperson, said the commission has received 579 objections from other political parties.

Moepye said the objections were understandable given the pressure parties faced during the election, adding that the commission would listen to all arguments.

“The constitution requires that to be a member of this commission, you must act without fear, without favour and without prejudice,” Moepye said.

“The commission was clear. There are many voices we hear. We really choose to focus on what we do, and we are not going to be sidetracked and be reticent about people we serve.

“We are going to respect them but we are going to do the work we are meant to do.”

The IEC chairperson maintained that results would be declared Sunday evening as planned.