The Electoral Commission of South Africa has rejected Julius Malema’s claim that votes at his Limpopo voting station were wrongly captured during the 2024 national and provincial elections.

The IEC said results slips from Mponegele Primary School in Polokwane matched the figures on its official results system. The commission also warned that repeated unsubstantiated claims by political leaders could weaken public trust before the next municipal elections.

IEC rejects Malema election claims over Mponegele results

The IEC rejects Malema election claims after the EFF leader alleged on the Frank Dialogue podcast that votes cast for the EFF at Mponegele Primary School were attributed to the ANC. Malema said EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee had a copy of the results slip and raised the issue with IEC officials.

The commission said its records do not support the allegation. “Results slips in the hands of the Commission indicate that the Mponegele Primary School vote count is the same as those captured on the Commission’s Results System,” the IEC said, according to reports on its statement.

The IEC said South Africa’s results process uses several safeguards. These include vote counting in front of observers and party agents, countersigned results slips, double-blind electronic capturing, independent audits, and access for parties and media to voting station results.

Commission warns against claims that undermine trust

The IEC rejects Malema election claims while stressing that voting station result slips remain the key record of voters’ choices. It said false or unsupported claims from senior political figures could harm confidence in election outcomes.

The dispute comes after previous scrutiny of the IEC’s 2024 election systems. In July 2025, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs said the IEC had identified areas for improvement, including IT system challenges, voter management device faults, voting station inefficiencies and training needs. However, the committee said these issues did not directly affect whether the elections were free and fair.

The IEC’s public results portal also states that national and provincial election reports are available in PDF, Excel and CSV formats, including detailed results, voter turnout, spoilt ballots and seat calculations.

EFF meeting set for 21 May

Senior IEC officials are scheduled to meet EFF leaders on 21 May 2026. The commission said the meeting will cover election readiness and give the party a chance to raise concerns about electoral processes.

No further official EFF response to the IEC’s latest statement was found at the time of publication. The IEC said it remained committed to constructive engagement with parties through political liaison structures.