Fact Check: Has a senior IEC official been arrested over election fraud?

One representative tweet reads: 

“Breaking News: Senior IEC officials confessed being bribed by President Ramaphosa and John Steenhuisen to [rig] the votes during the 29 May Elections in favour of the ANC 40% and the DA 20%.”

Is there any basis for this allegation?

https://youtu.be/xKpymMhHvJo

 

As is often the case with fake news, there is a grain of truth here. 

IEC commissioner Dr Nomsa Masuku was indeed arrested by the Hawks on 21 June 2024.

She was arrested for fraud – commercial fraud, not election fraud.

In a statement on the day of the arrest, the Hawks said Masuku was arrested in connection with a R1.2-million corruption case relating to her time working for Standard Bank.

According to the Hawks, Masuku stands accused of having used a Standard Bank scholarship programme to benefit friends and family members, while also channelling some of the funds into her personal bank account.

The alleged fraud dates back to 2012, with Standard Bank having reportedly taken the matter to police in 2014. Masuku was appointed as an IEC commissioner in 2018.

The IEC itself has since confirmed in a statement that the matter “relates to her erstwhile [ie previous] employment and does not relate to her tenure in the commission both as an employee and commissioner”.

There’s no denying that this arrest does not come at a good time for the IEC, which is being accused by Jacob Zuma’s MK party of having presided over rigged elections. 

Indeed, MK party spokesperson Musa Mkhize told the Sunday Tribune, in response to Masuku’s arrest: “Now when you have an individual who is charged with fraud, what does that say about the credibility of the process and the result?”

But the MK party has yet to provide any convincing evidence of widespread electoral fraud in an election that both local and international observers declared free and fair.

And there is no indication whatsoever that Nomsa Masuku may have been involved in fraudulent activities at the IEC.

Moreover, as some commentators have pointed out, it seems deeply unlikely that anyone would pay bribes to reach an election result as ambiguous as the one South Africa has been left with, where no party obtained sufficient votes to form a government on its own. DM