By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) has challenged EFF leader Julius Malema to ‘come examine’ its 140 000 signatures submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
This comes after Malema questioned the authenticity of BOSA’s signatures.
The IEC requires new political parties contesting the national and provincial elections to submit some 50,000 signatures to appear on all three ballot papers.
However, its verification system has been criticised for having loopholes that can easily allow for unverified signatures.
BOSA’s acting spokesperson, Roger Solomons, said challenging the legitimacy of the IEC without any evidence is a serious matter.
“Our activists and supporters are leaders with integrity, taking no shortcuts in doing the hard yards of proving to the IEC that our party enjoys significant support in every province. However, we remain flattered that Malema is concerned with BOSA’s growth.
“We, therefore, challenge Malema to come examine BOSA’s 140,000 signatures himself outside the IEC offices in Tshwane this Wednesday. We will make available the 140,000 signatures for his perusal.
“We can understand Malema’s dilemma: While support for his party has plateaued, BOSA is rapidly growing in all communities across South Africa, armed with a credible vision for change. It is clear that Malema and his EFF are now firmly part of the establishment.”
“It is clear that Malema and his EFF are now firmly part of the establishment. Gatekeepers of the status quo, trying to protect their turf from newcomers like Bosa who offer voters a fresh start.
We challenge EFF leader Julius Malema to come examine BOSA’s 140 000 signatures himself outside IEC offices pic.twitter.com/8ZKxCUXjdg
— BOSA (@BuildOneSA) April 22, 2024
“Finally, Bosa urges Malema to play open cards with South Africa and reveal who paid for the EFF’s national manifesto launch and each one of the party’s provincial launches – amounting to several millions of rands.
“With no funding declarations to the IEC, many are led to believe that shady money from cigarette smugglers is finding its way into EFF coffers. More often than not, where there is smoke, there is fire.”
The IEC has reportedly left it in the hands of Parliament to deal with any cases of forgery during the collection of signatures.
Meanwhile, African Congress for Transformation (ACT) is in talks with all the left-leaning parties such as the PAC, EFF, ATM and the MK party about a working relationship after the elections.