The EFF in Buffalo City Metro has expressed disappointment after a handful of its posters were taken down and damaged in Scenery Park, East London — allegedly by an ANC member.
A 51-year-old woman, Zoleka Mabuyane, appeared in the city’s magistrate’s court in connection with a charge of contravening the Electoral Act, police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli confirmed.
Nkohli said the woman was arrested on Monday.
She appeared in court on Tuesday and is out on warning. The case was postponed to June 27 for further investigation.
According to the Electoral Act’s code of conduct, destroying, removing or defacing posters of other political parties is an offence.
Any person who breaches the code is guilty of a criminal offence and can be fined or sent to prison for up to 10 years.
The EFF’s regional secretary, Siya Rumbu, said the alleged offence took place on May 7.
The posters, which bear the image of party leader Julius Malema, were reportedly torn and not in a state to be used again.
Rumbu said he was alerted to the incident by EFF members who allegedly observed the woman taking down the posters.
“The members tried to talk to her to stop removing the posters and already she had damaged some posters.
“The members gave her an opportunity to put up new posters in place of those and the fighters would give her those and she dismissed them.
“That is when the fighters decided to open a case at the police station,” Rumbu said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of Mabuyane’s first court appearance as EFF members, dressed in their party regalia, gathered at the court building.
They sang party songs outside court, calling for justice to prevail.
“All parties are allowed to campaign during elections and no-one has the right to stop parties from doing that. It’s a crime, according to the Electoral Act,” Rumbu said.
“The fighters found she had [allegedly] damaged six posters.
“We have other posters that we found damaged and on the ground in other areas of Scenery Park, not knowing if it is her who did that or someone else or a co-ordinated group.
“We are even engaged in a poster revival programme to replace all those posters.
“The EFF plastered its posters first around BCM and we noticed that after the ANC put up theirs.
“We then noticed that ours were either damaged or just disappeared.
“In the current case, fighters found her to have [allegedly] removed about five or six and the fighters stopped her.”
Rumbu said the party wanted the law to take its course.
“These things that we see in KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country where there’s political intolerance — in the Eastern Cape we have not experienced a lot of that.
“This may result in political interference and no-go zones where people are not supposed to campaign.
“A person who is caught and found guilty must be sentenced according to what the law stipulates so that it sets an example and [deters] would-be offenders.
“We don’t wish to find South Africa a banana republic where political parties are intolerant of each other.”
ANC spokesperson Loyiso Magqashela said it was aware of the allegations and confirmed that the accused was an ANC member.
“We are very much aware of this and we have referred it to our legal team.
“We will not be doing anything [now] about this person because this remains an allegation, but we are waiting for the investigation to take its course and will take it further once there are findings.
“I don’t believe that our members would be so intolerant because they are very much aware of the Electoral Act because we have empowered them perfectly.
“They know that as well and when they mount posters they should respect those that are already there.
“Any [allegation] can be levelled against anyone of an opposing political party.
“If there would be anything of the sort, of one dismounting the posters of other political parties, whether it’s ANC, EFF ... no-one is allowed [to do that].
“We just need to exercise political tolerance,” Magqashela said.
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