Gauteng police are analysing footage of what is alleged to be a group of people storming an IEC storage warehouse. (Darren Stewart/News24)

• Police are analysing footage of what is alleged to be a group of people storming an IEC storage warehouse.
• Insiders say some of the people in the group were dressed in MK Party regalia. 
• The MK Party confirmed that some of its members were part of the group but added that there was no commotion.

Police are viewing closed-circuit television footage of what is believed to be a group of 40 people allegedly storming into the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) warehouse in Booysens, Gauteng, and demanding access to ballot boxes.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the police registered an intimidation case after the group presented themselves at the IEC warehouse, demanding entry and access to where the ballot papers are kept.

She said police were taking statements until Wednesday morning to establish who the people were.

“The motive for this is under investigation. We are still studying all evidence,” Mathe said. “No arrests have been made …”

According to the police, nothing was taken. 

The IEC confirmed the incident and said in a statement that it usually increased the number of its storage sites ahead of an election to ensure that electoral supplies were as close to points of use as possible.

From there, material would usually be “rolled back” or sent to a centralised facility, it said.

“During such roll back of material from a local storage site in the inner city in the City of Johannesburg, a group of persons interfered with the handling of materials and subsequently followed a truck used to transport the material back to the provincial warehouse.

“On arrival at the warehouse, the group attempted to forcefully gain unauthorised entry to the warehouse. The commission can confirm that nothing was taken from the warehouse,” it added.

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Police insiders claimed some members of the group were dressed in MK Party regalia.

Asked for comment, MKP spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela told News24 that some of their party members spotted a van transporting ballot papers to the warehouse. 

“When they spotted the van, they followed it to Booysens. To the members’ surprise, there were ballot boxes inside the van, and they immediately called the police, who then came out. The members co-operated with the police, ” said Ndhlela. 

He said that once the police arrived, the members discovered that the IEC was moving ballot boxes from one warehouse to the next. 

“Why they were doing this, we don’t know. So, it is incorrect that anyone stormed the warehouse. There was a contingency of police that arrived at the scene. 

“We raised the question of what was going on, to the police. Had it not been for some of the MK Party members who saw this, no one would have known what had happened in Booysens,” Ndhlela added.

The footage is still being analysed.