Voting off to a peaceful start in Johannesburg north-eastern suburbs
JOHANNESBURG – Thousands of residents in the north-eastern suburbs managed to cast their votes without any hindrance in the country's national general elections.
On 8 May, citizens of South Africa went out in their numbers to cast their votes for their preferred political parties and in north-east suburbs of Joburg, voting was off to a good start.
Thousands of residents in wards 72, 73, 74 and 81 managed to cast their votes without any hindrance in the country’s national general elections.
In scenes reminiscent of 1994, long queues of voters were seen waiting patiently to vote at voting stations in various parts of the north eastern suburbs including Patterson Park in Norwood.
At most voting stations visited by local North Eastern Tribute journalist, Thabo Jobo, presiding officers confirmed that their stations were incident free, except for one at Houghton Primary School where an empty ballot box was apparently not sealed correctly. Although this caused confusion, the matter was quickly and amicably dealt with by the Independent Electoral Commission staff and party agents.
According to a presiding officer, who wished not to be named, there were no ballot papers inside the box as it was still early in the morning before voting started. “The box was actually sealed on the wrong side where we normally open it instead of the other side, that’s the confusion,” the presiding officer said.
“We then called in the party agents and managed to resolve the matter. The box has since been marked spoiled. Besides that, we believe everything went accordingly and people’s votes are safe.”
The voting station saw the likes of former finance minister Trevor Manuel and his wife Maria Ramos, the former Absa bank executive voting there.
Among other prominent citizens who cast their votes at Houghton Primary School were Investec Group’s former chief executive officer Stephen Koseff and his wife. Catherine Magoswana and Phinias Dudube also cast their ballots at Linksfield Primary School.
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Related article:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/232542/no-one-successful-voting-iec/
