DA wants Electoral Court to cut number of votes ANC received in polls, Ramaphosa fined

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants the Electoral Court to reduce the votes received by the African National Congress during the recent elections by one percent.

The party also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to pay a fine of R200,000 in his personal capacity.  

This is contained in the DA's Electoral Court case application. The party accuses Ramaphosa of abusing his position to influence the election outcomes.  

The matter is sitting at the Johannesburg High Court.

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The DA said Ramaphosa's televised speech, three days before the elections, was a political campaign advertisement disguised as an official speech from the Presidency.

The speech was carried live by the SABC and several official government social media accounts.  

In its founding affidavit, the DA said that while Ramaphosa did not mention the ANC by name, his speech was a thinly veiled campaign message for his political party.  

The DA says Ramaphosa is guilty of violating two sections of the Electoral Act.  

These deal with a member using their position of power to unduly influence elections and abusing state resources for the purposes of a political campaign.