25 Aug 2019

Jwaneng Deputy District Commissioner, Mr Lesang Kgomoetsile has conceded that there was a lot of voter transfer in the Jwaneng/Mabutsane constituency, especially within the Jwaneng Township.

Responding to concerns from councillors during the Jwaneng Town Council session recently, Mr Kgomoetsile indicated however that there was nothing the officials of the IEC could do as long as voters gave valid reasons for the need to transfer.

He said this was because the IEC Act gave voters such rights to transfer their votes provided that valid reasons were advanced and proper procedure was followed. 

He however said should there be any reasonable ground to suspect any foul play in transferring of votes, the IEC was empowered to investigate and take due actions against the perpetrators.

“There are rumours that some of these voters are being trafficked by candidates, but if that is the case then it is a criminal offence that should be reported to the IEC or even the police for proper action to be taken,” he said.

Mr Kgomoetsile also urged politicians, especially candidates to desist from encouraging voter trafficking as they had been noted to be at the helm of such an illicit activity.

He also said voters should report to the IEC if their registration cards were forcefully confiscated from them by any individual.

“So far IEC has no such reports of registration cards having been forcefully confiscated from people,” he said.  Mr Kgomoetsile also indicated that they would decide on who would be engaged as the returning officer for the parliamentary elections for the constituency.

This was so because the constituency is served by two deputy district commissioners, one in Mabutsane and the other in Jwaneng. Mr Kgomoetsile also indicated that they were confident that either of them was competent enough to handle the responsibility.

Mr Kgomoetsile was responding after councillor Ronica Ntsimako of Mogale wanted clarity on the procedure of voter transfers, and that it was strange that transfers could be done between the wards within the township, something he said was unnecessary as the township was small and all the polling stations across wards were within walking distances. ENDS