FORUM4SA rejects Madibeng results and wants IEC probe

Forum for South Africa (FORUM4SA) has refused to accept the 2026 local government election results in Madibeng, North West, and wants the Electoral Commission (IEC) to investigate how voting was run in two wards. IOL reported that the group’s president, Tshepo Mashilompane, spoke about the matter on Monday, a day after the IEC announced the national results.

What the results show

Madibeng is among more than 100 municipalities across the country where no party won an outright majority, so coalitions will have to govern. According to the IEC figures cited by IOL, the ANC led the municipality on 41.53%. The EFF came second on 15.68% and the DA third on 14.97%.

At ward level, the SACP took Ward 4 with 37.32% of the vote, while the ANC took Ward 38 with 58.2%.

The allegations

FORUM4SA says it rejected the outcome in these two wards because of discrepancies its members saw and complaints it received. These are allegations, and the IEC had not responded to them at the time of the report.

• In Ward 4, the group alleges that the deputy presiding officer was linked to a political party. It says this raises questions about whether the officer could be impartial.
• It also claims its agent at the voting station was made to leave after raising concerns with the presiding officer. Mashilompane conceded that the agents the party deployed were young and inexperienced.
• In Ward 38, FORUM4SA alleges that spoilt ballots were handled inconsistently. A party agent reportedly saw ballots for FORUM4SA thrown out because voters had put an X above the party’s name instead of in the proper space. The group alleges that ANC ballots marked the same way were counted.

FORUM4SA said it cannot treat the Madibeng results as credible without a full, independent investigation. Mashilompane said the group lodged its complaints before the IEC’s Friday 5pm deadline for disputes and is still waiting for a reply. The IEC has said it received over 800 complaints from parties, most of them about the conduct of presiding officers at voting stations.

Calls for changes to the system

The group also wants wider reforms. It proposed a secure electronic voting system, which it says would improve accuracy and transparency and limit chances of manipulation. It wants presiding officers and their deputies to be free of party affiliation, with background checks before appointment, and CCTV cameras at voting stations.

FORUM4SA contested the elections as a party but says it will keep working as a civil society group. Mashilompane said it registered as a party because municipalities often dismissed it for never having stood in an election. He added that “the role is not clear to many people” when it comes to civic movements.

What happens next

For residents, the key thing to watch is whether the IEC responds to the complaints and whether any investigation changes the outcome in the two wards. Until then, the results announced by the IEC stand, and coalition talks in Madibeng will be shaped by those numbers.

This story is based on reporting by IOL.