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4 months ago
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Voters gathered at a voting stations at the Glenwood Preparatory School, Durban. (Sakhiseni Nxumalo)
- The Electoral Commission of South Africa oversaw three days of voting, but they were not without glitches in Durban as well as protest elsewhere in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Some politicians criticised the commission for the technical hiccups and disruptions.
- Find everything you need to know about the 2024 general elections on News24's Elections Hub.
Some political leaders have lamented the problems that plagued the voting process in Durban, but the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said they were niggling issues that couldn't have hindered voting.
KwaZulu-Natal's independent candidate, Thanasagren Moodley, said there were issues at the voting station he had voted at.
"One of the main problems was the system. We [had to] move from one centre to another centre. There was the same problem in the other centre," Moodley said.
"The people at the ground couldn't reactivate the [IEC's] devices."
He gave the IEC credit, though, for resolving the issues quickly.
"I must admit, most of the complaints were being attended to [by] the guy who was online to give me some advice. So, I can't fault them for that."
DA provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson said the IEC seemed to be caught wanting:
It's really unbelievable that we have seen voter management devices not working and having to use a manual voters' roll.
"The lack of foresight has really frustrated voters when it should be an easy process. The DA salutes voters for standing in queues for hours on end, which they should not have been subjected to."
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said the system was offline "most of the time" on Monday - the first day of special voting.
Mtolo added: "It couldn't pick up voters. [Voters] got turned away. Some presiding officers lacked experience. It's just a mess, serious gross incompetence [and] queues take very long, [up to] 20 minutes per person."
Asked about the glitches, IEC provincial spokesperson Thabani Ngwira acknowledged reports of offices that had failed to print approved S24A lists and that voter management devices (VMDs) had apps that were not updated.
The Section 24A application allowed voters to cast their votes at voting stations where they had not registered to vote.
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Ngwira said the IEC reassured voters that any VMD technical glitches would not delay the voting process.
"Voting is a manual process. If the hard copy of the voters' [roll] and a list of pre-approved Section 24A cases is at the voting station, voting can proceed unhindered," he said.
He added that all special voting stations with approved special vote applications operated in the province, but that not all had opened on time.
"Where delays were encountered, issues that caused delays were addressed and all voting stations that were scheduled to open for special votes did open," Ngwira said.
Incidents where tents were not erected on time, such as in eThekwini's Ward 68, and Umzimkulu's Ward 5, which was hampered by service delivery protests, were resolved and voting continued uninhibited.
"We got reports of area managers being followed into our storage sites where we kept materials overnight, by people claiming to be representing political parties and demanding to camp within the precinct of our storage facilities. Such situations were defused by the SAPS."
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Ngwira said that 96% of the 4 974 voting stations opened at 07:00 on Wednesday.
"Those that opened late were as a result of the incidents including the... non-availability of police to escort staff carrying sensitive materials (eThekwini, uThukela, Mtubatuba, Jozini, Ugu District, Umzumbe and Ubuhlebezwe), and service delivery protests in Umuziwabantu's Ward 2 and Ward 8," Ngwira said.
Three voting stations were affected, with the last opening at 10:30.
The voting station at Lenkasi Secondary School opened after the intervention of Umuziwabantu Mayor Siboniso Zungu.
Ngwira said two voting stations in Newcastle's Ward 34 were blockaded by political parties, forcing officials there to open the venues an hour later.
In Eshowe's Ward 7, the area manager was blocked by political parties at the entrance of the commission's storage site.
"The situation was defused by the police," Ngwira added.
