‘What in the Zanu PF?’: IEC Website Crash Sparks Rigging Rumours in South Africa
The news that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) dashboard at the results centre and website has crashed has generated a wide range of reactions from South Africans.
IEC Reveals Why Website Crashed?
At the time of writing, the IEC had not revealed why the website was down. In a statement on its verified X (formerly Twitter) account, the electoral commission apologized and informed stakeholders that the results system is still operational. The IEC assured the public that local offices continue to capture results.
“We apologise for the issue with our public facing NPE system, and are working on restoring service. The results system is still operational and local offices continue to capture results,” the IEC said.
Also read: ‘No Wonder Berita Left’: Mzansi Erupts as Nota Baloyi Shares Controversial Voting Pic
Mzansi Erupts as IEC Website Crashes
Across X, South Africans speculated that the IEC had intentionally crashed its website to rig the election in favour of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Some users humorously suggested that when the website comes back up, the ANC will be leading by a significant margin. Others, however, pointed out that the website might have crashed due to its high traffic, as it is one of the most visited sites in the country right now. Here are some of the reactions:
@Solphendukaa:
What in the Zanu PF ????
@SirBrayneZA:
You know what’s coming; when it’s comes back; the numbers would have significantly changed. They are doing what they do best 🤣🤣
@Mfoka_Mlangeni:
Why crush now. I hope it gets back up. We need these results by the end of business today
@KomaneRre:
That’s probably the one of the most visited site in the world right now. Makes sense why it crashes
@anele_nkuna:
This is not an anomaly when the system is dealing with high network traffic and processing huge volume of live data….