In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation urged all leaders from different sectors of society to be responsible and wait for the election results from DRC’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).
The Congolese took to the polls on 30 December to elect a new president since 2001, with Joseph Kabila expected to step down when the results are released later this month.
Vying for the coveted post are Kabila’s preferred successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary and two outsiders — opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi and businessman Martin Fayulu.
“South Africa joins the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and many other international organisations in awaiting the elections results to be announced by CENI,” the diplomacy said.
The ministry urged other civil society organisations to refrain from announcing any results of the elections which may undermine peace and stability in the DRC, as well as multilateral processes.
This is in apparent reference to last week’s announcement by the country’s power Catholic Church that its 40,000 monitors have gathered evidence who the winner is, and urged CENI to a be truthful when disclosing the results.