On Wednesday, during the final media briefing on the vote-capturing process and results in the Western Cape, two political parties disrupted proceedings, demanding answers over claims of election-rigging. 

During provincial electoral officer Michael Hendrickse’s briefing, the leader of the Democratic Independent Party (DIP), Anwar Adams, shouted at Hendrickse: “Why don’t you answer your phone?” 

Before the briefing was disrupted Hendrickse said 24 councils in the province had completed their vote-capturing processes. Of the 24 municipalities, 15 are hung councils. The DA won nine councils.

The vote-capturing process of the City of Cape Town is expected to be completed by this evening, said Hendrickse. The process was 90.8% complete by 3pm. 

This led to Adams disrupting proceedings, claiming the voting was rigged and demanding a recount. 

#2021Elections: Leader of the Democratic Independent Party Anwar Adams at the IEC’s Western Cape provincial results centre, claiming the elections were rigged. He is demanding a recount of votes.@dailymaverick pic.twitter.com/WN3h1usWWS

— Suné Payne (@SunePayne) November 3, 2021

Pointing out one example of alleged irregularities, Adams shouted about unnamed parties who campaigned while people were voting: “They came with their music, their T-shirts on the day of elections, when campaigning stops the day before.” 

#2021Elections: leader of the Democratic Independent Party Anwar Adams is proclaiming election irregularities during this media briefing.@dailymaverick pic.twitter.com/kjWZl1QMU5

— Suné Payne (@SunePayne) November 3, 2021

Adams was the only DIP member on the 2016-2021 City of Cape Town council.

By 4pm on Wednesday, the party had only 32 ward votes in the city, according to the IEC results dashboard, which means Adams won’t return to council when it starts its new term in November. 

Responding to queries from Daily Maverick, DIP Ward 109 candidate Nazeem Anthony said: “We’ve had a number of issues, namely ballot boxes weren’t in the boxes, party agents were chucked out of voting stations, lots of campaigning was happening during voting. Lots of people have also told us that they were only given one ballot paper. We’ve laid complaints with the IEC.” 

The National Freedom Party (NFP) also alleged irregularities. 

Alvina Abrahams, the NFP’s mayoral candidate in the Drakenstein Municipality, claimed that in one ward 1,000 special votes were given to the DA. 

“So, you secure the vote for the DA for the win, is that right?” she asked journalists. 

Hendrickse commented on Adams’ behaviour, saying: “Mr Adams clearly has a right to voice his concerns. I just think it should be done in an appropriate manner. Mr Adams has been around for some time; he knows the rules around objections and I think it’s unfortunate in the way he conducted himself.” DM