Polling stations have officially closed across the country. However, voting will only stop once all South Africans, who were queuing at 9pm, have been assisted.
Voting largely proceeded without problems countrywide on Wednesday.
Few areas experienced hiccups, with four voting stations forced to close early in Vuwani due to safety concerns. They were later re-opened.
Four voting stations in Bergville and Mdoni, in KwaZulu-Natal, opened at around 2pm due to service delivery protests. They began operating at around 4pm.
Deputy chief electoral officer, Mawethu Mosery, says they’ll ensure that all voters get a chance to make their mark.
“We will keep those stations open until 9pm but if there are voters on the queues on those stations we’ll allow them to vote no matter how long it takes to make those voters to go through. we will allow them to vote. the reports from Bergville are not so great at the moment. there were still 1 or 2 people who came through and voted but no queues at this stage.”
In the Eastern Cape, at least seven voting stations were affected by protests and most of these stations are in Ntabankulu and Alfred Nzo.
One voting station in Ntlangano remained closed as protesting residents barred IEC officials from accessing the area. Some voting stations did not have electricity.
Two tent voting stations in Port Elizabeth, and a few in Mthatha were blown over by the strong winds.
Within the Buffalo City Metro Municipality, two incidents were reported where political representatives told voters their names were not on the roll, and should leave. The IEC intervened and the stations continued operating.
Strong thunderstorms were reported in the early evening in the Free State where 16 temporary voting stations in Manguang were blown down by strong winds and where heavy rain affected the conditions underfoot.
Power outages
The IEC says power outages affected voting in certain areas after dark, including in KwaZulu-Natal (specifically Umlazi), Limpopo (Vuwani and Giyani) and Gauteng (parts of Johannesburg).
The nature of the power outages was not immediately apparent but included instances of cable theft, weather related outages and other unscheduled interruptions.
The Electoral Commission says it is working closely with ESKOM and local municipalities to rapidly restore power in affected areas.
The IEC is adamant the majority of voting stations were able to function despite these challenges.
Voting stations for the #SAElections2019 have closed, except where there were still voters in the queue at 9pm. Thanks for voting and making this an exceptional #XseDay, Mzansi! Now download the IEC South Africa app for up-to-the-minute updates on #ElectionResults. Pls RT pic.twitter.com/jeIQxQH60Z
— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) May 8, 2019
Voting material problems
Shortage of voting material also hampered smooth polling in some areas.
A voting station in Polokwane, Limpopo, and one in Roodepoort – on Johannesburg’s West Rand – ran out of Section 24-A forms.
The forms are filled by voters who are making their mark outside their voting station or from another province.
Vote counting has meanwhile begun at polling stations where voting has ended.
The first batch of results are expected to start trickling in from midnight.
