The IEC in the Western Cape on Wednesday night said it had received only one serious complaint as the local government elections unfolded and it concerned about a key-wielding candidate attacking a rival in Grabouw.
The electoral commission said besides this and a few other hiccups it was pleased with the way local government elections progressed in the province.
“We obviously deal with all complaints we get. The most serious one had an element of assault. It had an element of somebody – a candidate – stabbing another candidate with a key, I don’t know how but we felt that people should lay a charge with police…,†IEC head in the Western Cape Courtney Sampson told reporters during media briefing on Wednesday night.
Other technical problems were dealt with early on, including problems with scanners not working properly, and makeshift voting stations being hit by heavy winds.
“We had two tents taken down by the wind overnight in the Riversdal area, but we were able to re-erect those tents before 7 [am],†said Sampson.
Sampson said results have been posted outside some voting stations, but added these were only provisional.
“What happens is that the result of the voting station is pasted outside the venue. That means its public. It is however not verified or captured,†he said.
Voting slips however have to be transported to various IEC capturing sites set up across the province where they are audited, before being officially captured on the IEC system.
“The waiting game is now on for results to see what it is that people have indicated here in the Western Cape in terms of their preference about who they would want to serve them in local government or as a public representative in their particular wards.â€
Sampson explained that even results from Robben Island, the former penal colony on which the founding father of democratic South Africa Nelson Mandela and many other activists were imprisoned, was outstanding.
“In somebody’s haste to get results in, those results were sent in before the closing time for the elections and that person got into a lot of trouble from the commission… that’s a whole number of years ago. Since then we decide we will bring the results like all other results,†he said.
The Robben Island results will arrive via ferry at the Cape Town harbour on Thursday morning.
– African News Agency (ANA)
