Hundreds of South Africans have registered to vote despite a few protests around the country, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Saturday.
”We have just more than 21-million registered voters. Our target is a cool 22-million voters by the time the voters’ roll closes. So far we are on target,” said IEC chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula.
Registration began as planned in all nine provinces. All voting stations had police officers securing them to ensure the safety of voters.
Tlakula said hundreds of voters used the IEC’s website to check their voting status. By midday on Saturday, the IEC had received 64 590 SMSs from people wanting to confirm their registration status.
The call centre received more than 30 000 calls and the website received 92 527 hits.
The IEC did experience challenges at a few stations.
In KwaZulu- Natal, rain delayed the opening of some stations on the South Coast. At one station in Zeerust (North West), protesters attempted to stop people from entering the voting stations, saying they wanted more delivery of services from the government.
In Moutse, Limpopo, there were reports of intimidation against IEC staff at six stations. Police accompanied IEC staff to open the stations.
”With the assistance of the police, most of these problems have been resolved. We are appealing to communities to support voter registration and allow IEC staff to execute their duties,” said Tlakula.
Voters can still visit their voter-registration stations on Sunday between 8am and 5pm to register or check their details.
”We call on eligible voters to finalise their details. We are grateful that people are using our internet facility and call centre. We are pleading for patience as we deal with the high volume of visits and requests for information,” Tlakula said.
South Africans can SMS their ID number to 32810 or can visit the IEC website and enter their ID number to find out if they need to register or change their details. — Sapa