IEC official relieved of her duties after viral special vote campaigning scandal

An Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) presiding officer in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, has been officially relieved of her duties.

This came after she was found to have transported party agents in an IEC vehicle. It was further alleged that the members had been “dishing out party t-shirts on the way to the home visits.”

The decision follows growing social media outrage and formal complaints from political parties over serious procedural breaches during the special voting process in the region.

Video footage circulated online showed an IEC official in the area carrying special vote ballot material in a home, accompanied by party representatives wearing politically branded clothing.

United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa reshared the footage on X, calling on election authorities to act immediately.

“Expose them. IEC must simply expel her. She is embarrassing the IEC processes,” Holomisa wrote, later confirming the official’s removal with the caption: “This IEC Official has been expelled. Isela!“

Rules on regalia and impartiality

Under IEC regulations, while party agents have the right to monitor proceedings, electoral staff must remain completely impartial, and voting environments, including home visit settings, must remain free from political campaigning or intimidation.

Furthermore, party agents are strictly prohibited from wearing party-branded clothing or regalia inside designated voting areas and are forbidden from travelling in the same vehicles as electoral staff or carrying official election material.

The IEC has reiterated that any electoral staff member found compromising the integrity or neutrality of the voting process will face immediate removal and potential legal prosecution under the Electoral Act.