News24.com | EFF condemns DA, ActionSA for considering polygraph tests after Cope member elected Tshwane mayor

The EFF has condemned ActionSA and the DA for considering the use of polygraph tests on councillors.

• The EFF in the Tshwane metro said ActionSA and the DA's decision that councillors should undergo polygraph tests was "inhumane and insensitive".
• The party said it went against the councillors' right to privacy and to vote.
• The EFF called on the Tshwane speaker to intervene by protecting councillors and ensuring that council members, ActionSA and the DA followed the rules.

The EFF has condemned ActionSA and the DA for considering the use of polygraph tests on Tshwane councillors, calling it "inhumane" and alleging it could trigger assassinations and destabilisation.

EFF Tshwane chairperson Obakeng Ramabodu called on the Tshwane speaker to involve the South African Local Government and Association (Salga) and the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to protect the councillors.

In a statement on Friday, Ramabodu urged councillors "to act" if ActionSA and the DA proceeded with the "morally inappropriate" process.

"For the protection of the municipal council, Tshwane EFF is opposed to any measures available to probe the dynamics of personal discretion in the secret ballot process. Even if the DA and ActionSA can go as far as procuring, Tshwane EFF will remain vehemently opposed to the abuse of secret ballot outcomes," he said.

News24 reported on Wednesday that the DA and its coalition partners, ActionSA and the Freedom Front Plus, were considering using polygraphs to identify eight councillors who voted with the ANC and the EFF to ensure the election of Cope member Murunwa Makwarela as Tshwane mayor. This happened despite the coalition partners agreeing on the DA's Cilliers Brink as their candidate for the position.

According to municipal regulations, councillors have the power to elect an office bearer through a secret ballot if more than one candidate accepts the nomination.

READ | The DA and partners may try lie-detector tests to find councillors 'bribed' in Tshwane mayoral vote

"The election of the executive mayor is a legislative competency of the municipal council, exercised by 213 duly elected members. Conducting selective lie detector tests on democratic processes of the municipal council violates the competence of the council to conduct its business freely and fairly," said Ramabodu.

The EFF said councillors had the right to vote and their right to privacy should not be infringed through lie detector tests.

The Tshwane municipality is in the hands of the ANC, Cope, ATM and the EFF after they elected Makwarela as mayor on Tuesday.

"The executive mayor, Dr Makwarela, must be given space to do his work. His opponent must simply pack his bags and return to the National Assembly in Cape Town, where he comes from. He is not indispensable," said the EFF.

Makwarela was nominated by ATM, which voted with the EFF and the ANC. The party remains a member of the DA coalition, along with the ACDP, Freedom Front Plus, Cope and ActionSA.