The Electoral Commission (IEC) has applauded the prosecution and sentence of an elections presiding officer who cast 24 votes fraudulently during the Local Government Elections last year.
The IEC said in a statement that Nomusa Precious Gabuza, 37, was accused, convicted, and punished after she was detected by the Commission’s internal mechanisms to prevent voter fraud.
The officer was punished this week in Durban’s Umlazi Regional Court.
She was judged to have misused her position and broken the law by putting 24 vote papers into a voting box ahead of the Local Government Elections on November 1, 2021.
“Gabuza’s crime was uncovered and she was arrested on the morning of November 1, 2021, before voting began. The voting procedure went off without a hitch.
“The Commission applauds the collaboration between political party agents, the police, and the National Prosecution Authority, which ensured Gabuza was not only apprehended but also sentenced eight months after the crime was committed,” the Commission stated.
The conviction and punishment, it claimed, were a “strong validation” of the Commission’s methods, which have since been improved with the installation of the Voter Management Device, which prevents multiple voting.
“It also demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to prompt involvement and management of consequences.” Gabuza (37) was sentenced to three years of probation and four years of jail, all of which were suspended for three years after she pled guilty to violating the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act 2000,” according to the IEC.