LOUISE FLANAGAN, BEAUREGARD TROMP and ADAM SEGE
Two hours after voting stations officially closed last night, hundreds of Gauteng stations were still dealing with queues of voters – including several in Soweto.
The Independent Electoral Commission allows those who are in the queues at the cut-off time of 7pm to vote, regardless of how long that takes.
By 9.30pm, there were more than 500 Gauteng voting stations still processing voters.
Gauteng IEC spokesman Moss Pitso said there were 250 Ekurhuleni stations still open, 183 Joburg stations and 80 in Tshwane.
He said the biggest queues were in Joubert Park in central Joburg; Protea Glen Ext 11, Chiawelo and Orlando informal settlement in Soweto; and in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni. These stations are routinely very busy in elections due to the population density.
“We are hoping that by midnight, if not by 10pm, they will all be closed,” said Pitso. He said this would be earlier than in previous elections.
He said some stations had opened 30 to 60 minutes late yesterday morning, but that the main reason for the stations running late was the late arrival of voters, as many waited until late in the day to turn up.
The delays in opening – mainly in the Joburg area – were due to delays in auditing the ballot papers before they leave the warehouse.
This year, the ballot papers are printed for specific voting stations and the ballot packs must be checked by auditors before leaving the warehouse, to ensure that the correct papers are sent.
“This year, we had to print 520 different ballot papers for Gauteng,” said Pitso. The variations are due to the differences in the lists for each ward.
“You can’t make a mistake with the ballot papers.”
Motsoaledi informal settlement in Soweto’s Ward 24 lacks electricity, but two lights shone brightly there last night.
As election workers counted votes in the polling station tent, several dozen residents sang and danced around a small fire nearby.
One of the residents celebrating was Lucky Ngobeni, who had campaigned for ward councillor as an independent candidate. The settlement has been under ANC control, but Ngobeni and his supporters sought to challenge that at this election.
And according to Ngobeni, they had made a strong statement.
Ngobeni said his supporters had topped the ANC at this polling station.
Regardless of the final results in the ward, Ngobeni said he and his supporters would continue to push the government to deliver results for the community.
“It’s going to be a struggle,” he said. “We’re still going to fight for more housing.”
Residents listed housing, sanitation and the poor condition of roads as key problems in their community.
“There’s no service delivery,” said Lindiwe Ngubeni, 24. “We’re still using the bucket system and communal taps.”
Several residents said electricity should be the government’s first priority.
“Can you imagine, 2011, you’re still charging a phone with a generator?” asked Andile Jujuwa.
Ngobeni said the community had been hurt by a lack of transparency in government and a disconnect between politicians and residents.
“They don’t even come and hold meetings with us,” he said.
As a socialist candidate, he had campaigned on a platform of sharing resources. He pledged during the election that if elected, he would donate part of his salary towards community improvement efforts.
Voting in South Africa’s most keenly contested local government elections since 1994 went off without major incident yesterday – but the country will have to wait at least until the weekend before the final results are declared.
The first result in was at 8.20pm, from a voting station in Randfontein, where 14 people voted. The ANC had 57.1 percent of the vote and the DA 42.9 percent.
Getting supporters to polling stations to cast their votes was the name of the game as parties went all-out to seize or secure municipal strongholds, with key metros hanging in the balance and political careers on the line.
While long queues in some areas sparked hope that the turnout would top the 48 percent achieved in 2006, analysts said it was too early last night to say.
There were minor glitches with the distribution of ballot papers and isolated protests, but polling proceeded peacefully after the fierce contest in the weeks of campaigning.
IEC officials suggested there had been a turnout of between 42 percent and 45 percent among the 23.6 million people eligible to cast votes.
Political leaders began gathering at the IEC’s national results centre in Pretoria from about 9pm, with the first results expected to begin trickling through soon after.
IEC chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula said there had been “challenges” at a “small number of voting stations”. These included faulty ID scanners.