Residents register to cast their vote
SUNNINGHILL– Mashaba expressed his concerns about the delays at some local voting stations.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) hosted voter registration drives on September 18 and 19.
This is to afford new voters and those who might have relocated to other areas, an opportunity to participate in the upcoming local elections on November 1.
However, some political parties expressed disappointment with technical glitches reported at some voting stations
in Gauteng.
Among voting stations that reported technical glitches on the first day of registration weekend, September 18, were Kyalami Prep School and
Reddam House Waterfall.
Democratic Alliance candidate and Ward 132 councillor, Annette Deppe, said network challenges at some voting stations were unacceptable for an organisation such as the IEC.
“The voter registration could not start in time here in Kyalami Prep School and Reddam House Waterfall voting stations as a result of network issues reported by officials. I’m glad that they were able to solve the problem before it was too late, but some voters had already gone back home,” claimed Deppe.
She added that the turnout at voting stations was lower than expected.
“I think people are making use of online platforms to check their status and to register themselves.”
Speaking during a walkabout at Sunninghill Village Shopping Centre, Herman Mashaba, the president of the newly formed political party Action SA, said, “I got concerned with the registration process at some of the voting stations. I went to Sandton Fire Station, where I vote, to check my status but I was disappointed to find that the voting station was not working after 10:30.
“I went back again after an hour and found it working. People want to register and they must be afforded a chance to register without interruptions to do so.”
IEC spokesperson in Gauteng, Boitumelo Monaki, said the voter registration weekend was a great success despite technical glitches.
“Yes there were glitches experienced with the use of a new device that the Electoral Commission has introduced called Voter Management Device.
“The problem was identified as a mapping functionality that was struggling to handle the volume of data on the day. Measures were then put in place to thin the density of data.
“Where the problem persisted, people were registered manually and the data is being uploaded,” Monaki added.
