Leader of the EFF, Julius Malema and DA leader, John Steenhuisen have lamented the failure of the voter management devices that resulted in some voting stations experiencing long lines until the early hours of the morning.
While some voters spent five hours in snaking queues to cast their votes, there were others who spent more than 10 hours in the lines resulting in some voting stations closing in the early hours of the morning.
The EFF through its Commissar, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, slammed the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) over long queues at most of the university campuses across the country.
Taking to his social media account, the EFF MP accused the commission of sabotaging its voters, saying the IEC seemed ill-prepared to handle the huge number of students who turned up to vote.
Steenhuisen thanked million of voters who participated in the elections in what could be described as the country’s biggest election since the dawn of democracy.
“The DA sincerely thanks each and every one of our supporters who came out to vote today. Your commitment and dedication to our cause is profoundly appreciated. We are heartened that so many voters did not give up.
“However, we must address the significant issues that have failed the electorate today. The voter management device (VMD) used by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has unfortunately led to widespread delays and long queues at numerous voting stations. This situation has caused great inconvenience and, regrettably, resulted in many people leaving polling stations without having voted,” he said.
Steenhuisen said the DA raised concerns about these devices but their concerns were brushed aside.
“Furthermore, during an 11am meeting with the IEC today, political parties, including the DA, raised serious concerns about the deployment and failure of the VMD. These technical glitches were most unfortunate and have particularly affected voting stations in the metros, exacerbating the delays and challenges faced by voters,” he said.
After spending more than four hours queueing in the line, Malema speaking to Newzroom Afrika, lamented the slow processing of voters, saying this was the first time he has seen people spending more than five hours waiting to vote.
“Thank you for voting. You have showed up and voted. We noted your frustrations and all the things that you have been subjected to. They want to demoralise you and frustrate you by not providing you with an efficient service. I know some of you waited for more than seven hours. Some of you waited for more than 10 hours. But that is what happens, when a good thing is about to come out,” Malema said in a video message to voters.
In a statement, MK Party spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela said it was disappointed with the IEC over its failure to handle the elections, saying the commission showed lack of competence by ignoring to communicate critical changes to the Electoral Act.
“Firstly, the IEC showed lack of competence by ignoring to communicate critical changes to the Electoral Act, specifically Section 24, which restricts voters to casting their votes only in the districts where they initially registered. This change was poorly communicated merely days before the elections, leading to widespread confusion and disenchantment among the electorate,” he said.
Responding to some of the issues that affected the smooth running of the elections, IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said some of the delays could be attributed to a range of issues including bandwidth, network and power outages.
Mamabolo said poor network connections caused delays at some voting stations.
“The issue of the voter management devices, which in turn caused delays, was resolved through the use of the physical voters roll which is also a legislated tool used by the commission to manage the elections,” he said.
The Star