- The IEC acknowledged that challenges in its systems had adversely affected the vote in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Political parties and independent candidates can file objections under Article 55 up until 9 pm on Friday.
- The state's chief elections official said preliminary results could be known as soon as Sunday.
The South African Electoral Commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal has said political parties and independent candidates have until 9pm on Friday to lodge objections under section 55 over incidents that may have a significant impact on the election outcome.
“These are objections that we could have made and which could have a significant impact on the outcome of the election. If you believe something has happened that could have a significant impact on the outcome of the election, now is the window to make an objection,” state electoral commission chairperson Ntombihuti Masinga said.
Addressing the media after Wednesday's general election, President Masinga expressed regret over a number of incidents that occurred on polling day, including technical glitches, shootings, stabbings and arrests.
He said statewide vote counting is expected to finish on Friday, but preliminary results are expected to be known on Sunday.
The electoral commission is expected to finish counting the election results on Friday. (Amanda Khoza/News24)
At the time of reporting, the state had results for 17.33% of its 4,974 polling locations.
By 3pm on Thursday, the MK party was leading the province with 92,377 votes, followed by the ANC with 45,796, the IFP with 41,323 and the DA with 22,961.
“There is one municipality that has completed the voting process and that is Impofana Municipality in Mooi River where all results have been recorded, audited and finalised,” Masinga said.
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“A total of 98 locations account for 2% of the polling stations in the province. Polling stations currently under counting are mainly concentrated in eThekwini Metro, Ward 22 in Umgungundlovu Municipality and Ward 29 in Ugu District.”
“yesterday [Wednesday]”There was a late surge in voter turnout, especially in eThekwini metro. The process was going smoothly in the morning but there was a sudden surge after lunch and polling officers at some polling stations were overwhelmed by the number of voters.”
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Masinga acknowledged that the IEC was facing challenges with regards to Voter Management Devices (VMDs).
“The aim was to streamline the process. But apparently there was an issue with the ICT infrastructure that supports the functioning of the VMD. So, at 9am yesterday, we had already advised the Chairperson to set aside the VMD if it was causing delays. After implementing the manual voting process, we have seen an improvement.”
She added:
We regret that some incidents have taken place that should not have happened. In Umlalazi Municipality in Eshowe, voters who were upset that their names were not on the voters’ roll assaulted IEC officials at one of the polling stations.
“In Cato Ridge, an altercation occurred between voters, the chairperson and police officers, with some voters allegedly being assaulted by members of the South African Police Service.
“I would also like to sadly inform you of the loss of two lives in KwaZulu-Natal, one of whom was a voter who fell off a buggy that was ferrying people to a polling station and was run over by the buggy.
“There was also a stabbing incident in Bulwar in Harry Gwala ward where an altercation occurred outside a polling station leading to a stabbing incident, with one person losing his life.
“These are very unfortunate incidents that we do not want to see happening during election time.”
She said the Brewer incident was an isolated incident, but it happened close to a polling place.
She said IEC officials had been arrested in Pietermaritzburg.
“Later in the day, the staff member, who is an IEC Area Manager, clocked out and wanted to replenish one of the items used at the polling station. When he went to the storage facility to pick up what he needed to replenish, he noticed that a box had been left at the polling station during dispatch. He decided to take the box back to the polling station.
“When he returned to the station he was surrounded by members of the political party who wanted to know about the box that had been smuggled in while the vote was being cast. We called the SAPS and discovered it was a sealed box containing extra ballot papers that had not been distributed.”
(Graphic: Charlene Rood/News24)
“However, they reported that the ballots had all been distributed in the morning, despite them being sealed and unused, so they tried to hold police station staff responsible. SAPS seized the boxes.”
Masinga added that in terms of resources, this was one election where the commission was “well resourced”.
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“We cannot say that we did not have enough resources as the IEC, but voting patterns also impact the numbers that polling stations have to handle.
“yesterday [Wednesday]”We saw an interesting phenomenon, especially in the townships, where people would turn out in large numbers after lunch. If you look at the crowds that gathered at the polling stations, I don't think any amount of money, no matter how many people turned out, was enough,” she said.
