Voting progressed well across the Western Cape on election day, with no major incidents reported, but long queues were seen in suburbs while voters trickled in at stations on the Cape Flats and townships. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) reported that more than 461,000 voters had cast their ballots in the Western Cape by 10am. The IEC deployed extra staff to ease waiting times at some voting stations due to delays with offline voter management devices (VMDs).
By midday, the number of voters who had cast their ballots had shot up to more than 800,000, with over half of the ballots cast in the City of Cape Town. Provincial Electoral Officer Michael Hendricks said all 1,623 voting stations were opened, but some experienced issues with VMDs going offline, leading to long queues. The IEC deployed additional staff and VMDs to address the queues and manage the voting process.
Hendricks said voting was expected to continue until the stations closed at 9pm, and voters in the queue at 9pm would still be assisted to cast their ballots. He revealed that the police had to evict a disruptive voter who was armed at one of Mitchells Plain's voting stations. The IEC had also dismissed one official who reported for work allegedly drunk, resulting in some voters receiving two ballots instead of three in Mossel Bay.
Parties gave mixed assessments of voter turnout, with some expressing concerns over low turnout. ANC provincial spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said they had noted that people were only coming out to vote during the course of the day, and encouraged people to visit voting stations. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis was pleased that teething problems seemed to have been resolved, while GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron noted that voting was slow and long queues were experienced in the Cape Town suburbs.
Herron expressed concern about turnout among the Cape Flats and townships, saying it seemed the suburbs had turned out in high numbers, while it was trickling throughout the day on the Cape Flats and townships. He noted that unreasonable decisions by some presiding officers and VMDs going offline were issues that would be taken up with the IEC.
SACP provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu said his party was impressed by the number of people queuing at voting stations in places such as Stellenbosch, Kraaifontein, and Mbekweni. He said the numbers were promising, but it was early to make a determination, and the results would tell whether they would achieve their goals.
The IEC's efforts to address the technical issues and manage the voting process were ongoing, with Hendricks assuring voters that their ballots would be counted. The final voter turnout and outcome of the election remain to be seen, with parties and voters alike waiting anxiously for the results.
Key points
- Over 800,000 voters cast their ballots in the Western Cape by midday.
- Technical issues with voter management devices caused delays at some voting stations.
- Parties expressed mixed assessments of voter turnout, with some expressing concerns over low turnout.
