Pretoria – With just less than an half an hour before voting stations close, the Electoral Commission says it is pleased that no significant incidents of unrest or deliberate disruptions to voting have been reported.
Updating the media on the progress since the voting stations opened today at 7am, Chief Electoral Officer Mosotho Moepya reported that as at 5pm, all voting stations were reported as open. All logistical and other challenges, which had impacted voting earlier in the day, had been resolved.
However, Moepya noted that the worsening weather conditions in some parts of the country, including the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and parts of the Northern Cape, continue to present challenges to the voting process, especially in temporary structures.
“At least 30 tents had been reported as being significantly affected by gale force winds and the Electoral Commission has taken a decision to allow voting stations in the worse affected areas to move to nearby permanent structures where feasible,” said Moepya.
Deaths at voting stations
The Electoral Commission also expressed its sadness following reports on the death of two more voters at or in the vicinity of voting stations.
The incidents occurred in Ingwe Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and Struisbaai in the Western Cape. It appeared that both deaths were of natural causes, Moepya said.
An election official was also seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in the Northern Cape and had to be airlifted to hospital in Kimberly.
“The Electoral Commission extends its condolences to the families of those deceased and wishes our election staff member a speedy recovery,” said Moepya.
Shooting near voting station
Moepya said the Electoral Commission received a report shortly before 5pm regarding an alleged shooting near a voting station in ward 26 in the newly created municipality, LIM345 (comprising Malamulele and Vuwani), in Limpopo.
“The incident was reported to have occurred in the Malamulele area. No further details or confirmation were available at the time of issuing this statement,” said Moepya.
Last call to vote
The Electoral Commission reappealed to voters who have not voted to make their way to their voting station to cast their vote.
Voting stations will close at 7pm, but voting will continue until all voters who are at a voting station and in the queue have been allowed to vote. – SAnews.gov.za
