IEC’s Eastern Cape electoral officer Khayakazi Magudumana speaking to the media in KuGompo City on Tuesday evening.
Sithandiwe Velaphi/News24
- Two voting stations in Alfred Nzo District Municipality delayed opening for special voting on Monday due to protests, but opened after police intervention.
- IEC provincial electoral officer Khayakazi Magudumana said state security had identified protest hotspots for Wednesday’s vote and police are ready to act.
- Two presiding officers were fired — one in Buffalo City metro for issuing ward ballots instead of PR ballots, another in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality for being registered as a party candidate.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in the Eastern Cape says police are ready to arrest protesters if they disrupt voting through community protests on Wednesday.
IEC provincial electoral officer Khayakazi Magudumana told the media at the provincial results centre in KuGompo City on Tuesday evening that two voting stations in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality delayed opening for special voting on Monday due to community protests.
The stations are in Matatiele and Ntabankulu local municipalities, said Magudumana.
The stations ultimately opened later on Monday after an intervention by the police.
The IEC has identified hotspots for protests likely to disrupt voting, said Magudumana.
News24 understands that some of these stations are in the Alfred Nzo and Amathole regions.
“State security has given us a list of places that we are highly likely to get challenges tomorrow (Wednesday), in terms of blockages and protests.
“Unfortunately, we cannot share that information.
“But I must say that the SAPS is ready for anything that will hinder our work. We are not expecting anyone who will be of hindrance without consequences. We cannot have a situation where a community cannot allow us to do our work,” said Magudumana.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Zolile Williams said it was unconstitutional and illegal to block voters from accessing voting stations.
Williams said:
We would like the police to monitor such areas. We want free and fair elections.
He said he was not denying that there were service delivery challenges in the province.
“There are plans to implement road construction. The budget is so [limited] that we cannot do every road at the same time in the province. We acknowledge that there are problems we have in terms of water and roads.
“But we will repair roads and provide water. We will be deploying our teams throughout the province to listen to the communities,” said Williams.
The province has 4 979 voting stations.
Magudumana said three voting stations, two in Sakhisizwe and one in King Sabata Dalindyebo municipalities, were unable to open on Monday due to bad roads, exacerbated by heavy rains.
READ | IEC apologises for late start of special votes after ballot paper delays
The matter was escalated to the national office, according to Magudumana.
A helicopter was organised to assist IEC staff to access the affected stations on Tuesday.
“Fortunately, all our voting stations were opened today (Tuesday),” said Magudumana.
On Tuesday afternoon, the IEC’s Eastern Cape staff had a meeting with the political parties.
“We have discussed protocols on how we will escalate issues,” said Magudumana.
Magudumana also said an IEC presiding officer in Buffalo City’s Ward 16 was fired for issuing ballot papers “wrongly”.
“Instead of giving a PR ballot to the ward, she actually issued ward ballots to 21 voters. Fortunately, we were able to call back those voters to vote correctly,” said Magudumana.
Another presiding officer was dismissed in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality after it was found she had been registered as a candidate for a political party, said Magudumana.
Sithandiwe Velaphi
www.news24.com
