The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has fired the official behind the leaking of African National Congress and uMkhonto weSizwe Party candidate lists. The lists were leaked last week Friday, just hours after they were submitted to the IEC.

FIRED

IEC Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, confirmed the dismissal of the official at a media briefing last night and said the official also retrieved information regarding other political parties. "We don't know what the motive was. We were able to determine the downloads on her computer and they have since been deleted,". Mamabolo said. He added that the former official's computer is subjected to a forensic analysis to establish the motive behind her leaking the party lists. "The motive will be pursued as part of the ongoing investigation," he said.

SHE CONFESSED

Mamabolo added that the official was given an opportunity to make a presentation as to why she should not be fired. "The IEC received the presentation and, on that basis, terminated her contract,". Mamabolo confirmed in an interview with Newzroom Africa that the official did confirm that she is the one who used her credentials to generate and share the lists. Mamabolo also said that the credibility of the commission is not dependent on a single factor which in this case is the leak. "The incident is revolting and ought not to have happened but that is not the totality of the credibility of the commission,' Mambolo said. MK Party had said over the weekend that were going to lodge a complaint with the IEC over their leaked list while the ANC said it's satisfied with the IEC's explanation that the leak was an isolated incident.