South Africa’s fourth post-apartheid local government elections got under way without any hitches at 7am on Wednesday.
Officials at voting stations visited said logistics were in place for a smooth poll to elect representatives for municipalities throughout the country.
A total of 10Â 055 council seats will be contested in 4Â 277 wards.
In closely contested cities, such as Cape Town in the Western Cape and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, the day also began without incident.
The Independent Electoral Commission said 121 parties and 53Â 596 candidates would battle it out for the hearts and minds of 23,6-million voters for seats in city and municipal councils.
Voting at all 20Â 859 stations will close at 7pm.
IEC ‘ready to roll’
The Independent Electoral Commission’s national results centre in Pretoria hummed with activity on Wednesday morning.
IEC official on electoral matters, Stuart Murphy, explained the centre was on the “pulse” of internal operations.
The “cross” or operations floor, a cordoned-off area in the middle of the centre, received and handled mostly internal complaints reported to the IEC from various parts of the country.
“We deal with operational challenges … voting stations not opening, ballot paper issues, training, logistics, any internal IEC challenges,” said Murphy.
Directly in front of the cross was a large blue electronic board that would display polling results once they started filtering in, possibly between 9pm and 10pm on Wednesday.
Murphy explained that capturing the actual results did not happen at the centre. This would take place at 234 municipal IEC centres across the country and then these would be filtered to the Tshwane base.
Murphy said the IEC was “ready to roll”.
In the 2009 national election, the shortage of ballot papers was a huge problem for the commission, particularly in Gauteng. Murphy said this was unlikely to repeat itself as voters had to make their mark at the station at which they were registered.
“With national elections, you can basically vote anywhere. But local elections are different and that’s why we don’t anticipate that challenge.”
Broadcasters had set up makeshift studios at the centre and were already live on air an hour before polling stations opened.
Two private security companies and police were handling security at the centre. Eighteen police officers were on site, with additional “standby tactical capacity”, said a senior officer on duty. There were 36 guards from one security company deployed for the day and 24 would be coming on shift on Wednesday night. Fire safety, the fire brigade, emergency services and disaster management were all on standby at the centre, ready for “any eventuality”.
Voting off to slow start in Bethelsdorp
Voting got off to a slow start at the Kleinskool, in Bethelsdorp, a township on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth.
First in a line of about 24 voters was William Davids, who has lived in the area since 1984.
“It’s become worse now in these past years,” he said.
“This area is full of gangsters and robbers. I’m sick of it,” said Davids (54).
Sylvie Voko (58) said the most important factor for her when voting was also making sure the “skollies” [criminals] were kept under control.
“They must be thrown in jail.” she said.
“It’s very important. This area has many skollies.”
She said the roads were bad in the area and that water and schools and clinics were also in short supply.
She saw Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille visiting the Bethelsdorp area on Tuesday morning. Voko was still deciding who she would vote for.
“I’ll make my final choice when I have the ballot open in front of me,” she said. She has voted in every election since 1994.
Voting gets under way in Cape Town
Voting at Pinelands, in Cape Town, got off to a smooth start on Wednesday morning.
Voters, mostly dressed in tracksuits, patiently queued for their turn to vote.
IT consultant Ed Vogel said he hoped all South Africans would participate.
He said people should take the elections seriously and should consider it an honour to vote.
“It’s a responsibility. We’re given a chance to have a say, we should use it. Imagine what would happen if we didn’t vote,” said his wife Tisha.
“But we’re hoping the status quo remains. We’re very happy living in Cape Town,” said Ed.
The couple said they were aware that the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC) were running head-to-head for leadership of the city.
DA party officials, who were erecting a gazebo and putting up banners outside the hall, said they were excited about the election.
Party official Jonathon Hemp said the DA expected voters to come out in their numbers.
“There’s not much apathy from what we’ve seen, so we’re hoping for a big turnout.”
Meanwhile, police at the polling station said everything was going according to schedule.
DA mayoral candidate for Cape Town Patricia De Lille was expected to cast her vote at the town hall at 9am. – Sapa