Justice Mihlanga
Versions of names:
South Africa
A Russian outlet presents Justice Mihlanga as an employee of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Indeed, he is mentioned in several tender specifications of the IEC for supplies, such as printing ballot papers, as the person responsible for the electoral commission provincial warehouse in Gauteng. According to his LinkedIn profile, Justice Mihlanga has been a self-employed lawyer since September 2019 but worked for the IEC between November 2013 and December 2018 as “Electoral Project Coordinator.” Justice Mihlanga does not appear on the website of the IEC.
Corresponding elections
Russia’s local elections in September 2024, concentrated on the socalled Single Voting Day, were marked by unprecedented restrictions on independent opposition, media, and election observers. To legitimize the elected politicians in the eyes of the Russian voters and international audiences, the Russian Central Election Commission invited multiple representatives of state election commissions to Moscow and St. Petersburg. All of them misused the authority of their institutions to lend legitimacy to these fraudulent elections.
EPDE monitored the Russian media and other sources during the three election days and has noticed that Russia’s Central Electoral Commission invited six counterparts from five electoral institutions: SPR Election Commission of Malaysia; INE Instituto Nacional Electoral (Mexico); COMELEC Commission on Elections (Philipines); ECSL Electoral Commission (Sierra Leone); IEC Electoral Commission (South Africa).
The group appeared first on September 6, 2024 in Moscow during a conference of Russia’s Central Electoral Commission, then on September 7 they traveled to St. Petersburg. The group visited at least one polling station in St. Petersburg on September 8, 2024.