Delays leave east voters frustrated
"We have been here since 07:00, and not even one of the volunteers has updated us on what the holdup is."
Some Pretoria east residents stood in long queues from as early as 06:00 to cast their vote in the local government elections on Monday.
At a voting station on the corner of De Villebois Mareuil Drive and Atterbury Road, hundreds of voters were frustrated by a delay in the arrival of ballot papers and miscommunication between the IEC and volunteers.
One frustrated voter, Thando Selega, said he was disappointed by the IEC’s lack of effort.
“We have been here since 07:00 and not even one volunteer has updated us on what the holdup is. I suspect the volunteers were not trained properly and that contributed to the delay,” he said.
“One man who queued here from before 07:00 was told that he was at the wrong voting station. It was so sad because he’s been standing here for hours only to be turned back once he got inside the voting tent.”
Ndivhuwo Mudau said long queues were expected.
“I have been here for over 45 minutes and things seem to be going smoothly so far. It was congested in the morning but people’s patience is remarkable,” he said.
Jacqui Uys, a candidate for ward 85, said proceedings went smoothly in her region despite a few hiccups.
“We had delays at the Willows Methodist Church in Equestria and also at the Willowridge high school. There was a delay in the voter’s roll and the scanners were not working at the Methodist Church. All these issues have, however, been sorted and things are up and running now.”
She said the turnout at both voting stations had been great.
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