Protests Disrupt Voting in Three Eastern Cape Municipalities: IEC Reports Smooth Start

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says voting in the Eastern Cape's local government elections got off to a relatively smooth start in most wards, despite attempts to disrupt the process through protests in two wards in Alfred Nzo District and another in Mbhashe Local Municipality.

IEC Eastern Cape provincial electoral officer Khayakazi Magudumana said protests disrupted voting in Ntabankulu and Matatiele, while protesters in Mbhashe locked a voting station and disappeared with the keys.

She said voting at the affected stations, was delayed by three hours and voting commenced following the intervention of the police's Public Order Policing unit.

“We were helped by the SAPS in Mbhashe. They had to force open the entrance after our officials were locked out,” said Magudumana.

Voting was also delayed at about six stations in Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality because wet and muddy road conditions made them difficult to access.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is the municipal council that oversees towns like Bizana, while Mbhashe presides over Dutywa and surrounding villages.

Magudumana said the IEC had received a few complaints about irregular conduct by presiding officers, some of whom had subsequently been dismissed.

“There are presiding officers who did things that are irregular, like one in Ward 30 in Buffalo City, who was caught ferrying party agents. Another one was caught distributing 21 ballots to voters,” she said.

While the IEC was satisfied with the overall progress of the elections, Magudumana said the late arrival of voters at urban voting stations, is concerning.

During a walkabout at the IEC's Eastern Cape Results Operations Centre at the International Convention Centre in KuGompo City, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane praised the IEC for its handling of the elections and commended residents who had turned out to vote.

He also pointed to favourable weather conditions and urged those who had not yet voted to make their way to the polling stations.

Mabuyane said he was expecting a good outcome for the ANC, although he acknowledged that the final results remained uncertain.

“Voting is very important in ensuring that there's a government elected by the majority of its citizens, and a government that listens to its citizens,” said Mabuyane.

DA Eastern Cape leader Andrew Whitfield, who also conducted a walkabout at the Results Operations Centre, expressed optimism about his party's performance in the province.

Whitfield said the DA was likely to retain Kouga Local Municipality, emerge as the majority party in Nelson Mandela Bay and perform strongly in Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality.

During its evening briefing, the IEC said about 12 million South Africans had cast their votes nationally, of whom approximately 1.4 million were from the Eastern Cape.