While voting started on time at the Siqophumlando Combined Secondary School in Ward 4 at Inchanga‚ west of Durban‚ the voting station experienced huge delays.
By 10.50am‚ only 370 people — out of the 3268 voters expected to turn up — had cast their votes.
Independent Electoral Commission presiding officer Hlengiwe Hadebe said the delays were caused by people who were jumping the queue.
“It’s relatively peaceful‚ but now people who failed or did not cast special votes want special treatment. Some are saying they are rushing to work‚ while some are just shoving in‚” said Hadebe.
Hadebe said they have given first preference to the elderly‚ sickly and disabled‚ and pregnant women.
The queue outside the venue was moving at a snail’s pace and the heat took its toll on some of the voters queuing patiently.
Ward 4 is heavily contested by the African National Congress (ANC)‚ which is fielding Khanyisile Gumede.
Some community members had preferred veteran councillor and taxi boss Boy Shozi‚ whom the ANC rejected.
An independent candidate has since emerged in Malombo Nxumalo‚ who is believed to be supported by some sections in the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions in the area.
The SACP and the ANC have been at loggerheads in the ward following the killing of Phillip Dlamini in February‚ after a community meeting turned violent.
So fraught has the situation been in this ward that both ANC president Jacob Zuma and SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande visited the area on different occasions this year.
One woman in the queue was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Dlamini’s face‚ but did not want to talk about the election.
A first-time voter‚ Nelisiwe Mkhize‚ said she was voting for Nxumalo‚ while her cousin‚ who did not want to be named‚ said she was voting for Gumede.
“We are a family but it’s great to have differing political views. We keep it that way and we hope the community does the same. This is democracy after all‚” said Mkhize.
ANC and SACP members mingled together with no sign of any animosity.
Live results, cool maps, fierce battlegrounds: follow the local elections on our web app:http://bit.ly/2apwZKU
Queue-jumpers blamed for delays at Inchanga voting station
While voting started on time at the Siqophumlando Combined Secondary School in Ward 4 at Inchanga‚ west of Durban‚ the voting station experienced huge delays.
By 10.50am‚ only 370 people — out of the 3268 voters expected to turn up — had cast their votes.
Independent Electoral Commission presiding officer Hlengiwe Hadebe said the delays were caused by people who were jumping the queue.
“It’s relatively peaceful‚ but now people who failed or did not cast special votes want special treatment. Some are saying they are rushing to work‚ while some are just shoving in‚” said Hadebe.
Hadebe said they have given first preference to the elderly‚ sickly and disabled‚ and pregnant women.
The queue outside the venue was moving at a snail’s pace and the heat took its toll on some of the voters queuing patiently.
Ward 4 is heavily contested by the African National Congress (ANC)‚ which is fielding Khanyisile Gumede.
Some community members had preferred veteran councillor and taxi boss Boy Shozi‚ whom the ANC rejected.
An independent candidate has since emerged in Malombo Nxumalo‚ who is believed to be supported by some sections in the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions in the area.
The SACP and the ANC have been at loggerheads in the ward following the killing of Phillip Dlamini in February‚ after a community meeting turned violent.
So fraught has the situation been in this ward that both ANC president Jacob Zuma and SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande visited the area on different occasions this year.
One woman in the queue was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Dlamini’s face‚ but did not want to talk about the election.
A first-time voter‚ Nelisiwe Mkhize‚ said she was voting for Nxumalo‚ while her cousin‚ who did not want to be named‚ said she was voting for Gumede.
“We are a family but it’s great to have differing political views. We keep it that way and we hope the community does the same. This is democracy after all‚” said Mkhize.
ANC and SACP members mingled together with no sign of any animosity.
Live results, cool maps, fierce battlegrounds: follow the local elections on our web app:http://bit.ly/2apwZKU
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