Elections off to a smooth start
Nthambeleni Gabara
22 April 2009
Voting was proceeding smoothly in South Africa's general elections on Wednesday, with 98% of polling stations open on time and the remainder - mostly temporary stations that were affected by the weather - gradually opening by late morning.
"We have received reports that 19 121 of the 19 726 voting stations opened on time," Chief Electoral Officer Pansy Tlakula told BuaNews. "The situation improves every minute. We are confident that those stations which did not open will soon do so."
In Moutse in Limpopo province, where some residents are demanding to be incorporated into Mpumalanga, the voting process was going smoothly, without any violence or disruption.
The Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC's) spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, Pearl Ngoza, said all voting stations in the province had opened on time.
Free State electoral officer Jabulani Mepha said there were delays in the opening of about a quarter of their voting stations, but they were gradually opening as well.
In both the North West and Mpumalanga provinces, all voting stations were reported to have opened on time, and voting was going well.
The IEC's spokesperson in the Northern Cape, Godfrey Mjezu, said everything was "fine in our province ... No incidents have been reported since the opening of polls at 7am this morning."
Though they were delays in some parts of Gauteng province, IEC provincial spokesperson Solly Kganyago said that all the voting stations had now opened.
IEC officer arrested
Meanwhile, police in KwaZulu-Natal have arrested an IEC presiding officer in Ulundi after marked ballot papers were found at a polling station.
According to media reports, ballot boxes and ballot papers were being transported from Ekhombe to Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday night. When the delivery arrived in Nkandla at 8pm, two ballot boxes were missing.
Party agents in Ulundi reported that a person was in possession of completed ballot papers and in the process of putting them into the ballot boxes.
IEC officials at the Ulundi polling station alleged that an envelope supposedly containing 53 special votes had been found with 104 votes inside.
And in QwaQwa in the Free State, a presiding officer was wounded by an armed man at around 4am while preparing his voting station. He was shot in the leg by the suspect, who fled with a cellphone and some cash. The presiding officer was taken to hospital.
The police say the incident was an isolated one and not related to the elections.
Source: BuaNews
