THE Multi-Party Charter for South Africa (MPC) does not trust the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) with the 2024 elections.
The 11 parties say there is a high chance that the results will be rigged.
To try and avoid rigging, they have written to foreign ministers and other representatives of the relevant organisations for assistance.
They want them to ensure the results of the upcoming national and provincial elections accurately reflect the will of the people of Mzansi.
According to a joint statement released on Thursday, 15 February, the foreign ministers and organisations exist in the East and the West, the global North and global South, as well as the African continent.
“While we have confidence in the IEC, parties in the MPC are acutely aware that they've assembled the biggest voting bloc outside of the ANC in the history of our democracy.
"This, alongside the certain loss of a national ANC majority this year, means efforts to capture this election will be greater than ever before,” said the parties.
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Members of the MPC include the DA, the IFP, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), ACDP, ActionSA, UCDP, UIM, EPP, SNP and the ISANCO.
They said they recognised that their efforts to ensure electoral integrity could and must be supported.
“In this respect, parties in the MPC have resolved to collaborate to achieve 100% coverage across the more than 24 000 voting stations around the country.
"However, this must be partnered by external support, which must include material assistance to South Africa’s civil society organisations on voter education, capacity-building for domestic monitors, and a robust presence of international observers ahead of the election and on election day,” the statement read.
They further raised concerns about the potential for foreign interference in the elections.
MPC said they believe the international community can help guard against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process or influence Mzansi's electorate.
“For the first time in democratic South Africa, the ANC looks set to receive well below 50% of the national vote. This presents a window of opportunity for the democratic transfer of power to an alternative government. But it also inevitably heightens the threat to electoral integrity.
"Therefore, the parties to the Multi-Party Charter are using every means available to us to ensure a free and fair election. Now is the time to rally all true supporters of democracy around South Africa’s democratic cause.”
They said such technical support has been the core element of ensuring free and fair elections dating back to the first democratic election in 1994, which saw the election of Nelson Mandela.
In January, former president Jacob Zuma raised the issue of rigging of elections when he was campaigning for his party Umkhonto Wesizwe in Soweto.
However, the IEC had rejected allegations that it was biased.
IEC vice-chairwoman, Janet Love, told a media briefing on 31 January that as soon as political parties "are part of the process of the upcoming elections, they are also part of the process of the commission to ensure that elections are managed in a way that is free and fair."
