Tumisho Masha under fire over pic of marked ballot paper

Actor Tumisho Masha is facing widespread backlash after he posted a picture of his marked ballot paper inside a voting station 

His defiant act, a criminal offence, came after the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) urged the public to obey the rules ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections.

TUMISHO MASHA POSTS PIC OF MARKED BALLOT PAPER 

On X, Tumisho Masha trended over his tweet, which he has since deleted, showing off his marked ballot paper.

The picture was taken at his local voting station, Lyndhurst Primary School, and revealed who the actor had voted for in the local government elections.

He captioned the tweet: “A mark has been made. ActionSA is the only party that knows how to fix Joburg”.

The veteran actor deleted the tweet, but not before it was screenshot by multiple other X users, including the account @CrimeWatch_RSA.

The account posted the screenshot, warning Tumisho Masha that he had contravened the Electoral Act 73 of 1998. 

“The matter will be further handled by the Gauteng SAPS”, the account added.

GAUTENG #LGE2026 | An actor, Tumisho Masha (@TumishoMasha), has contravened the Electoral Act 73 of 1998. The matter will be further handled by the Gauteng SAPS.

You are reminded that it is a criminal offence to photograph a marked ballot paper and/or share it. pic.twitter.com/Bq4fsulklw

— Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (@CrimeWatch_RSA) November 4, 2026

Tumisho appeared to respond to the backlash with a tweet that read: “Everybody calm down. It’s really not what you think”.

Everybody calm down it’s really not what you think 😂😂😂

— Tumisho Masha (@TumishoMasha) November 4, 2026

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Under Regulation 38(1A) of the Election Regulations, 2004, under the Electoral Act 73 of 1998,  making a photograph or other image of a ballot paper marked by a voter on election day or during special voting is prohibited.

Regulation 38(2) states that it is a criminal offence punishable by law.

A person convicted of contravening this regulation can face a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.