Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

4-minute read
31 May 2024 | 16:53 CAT

A hive of activity at the Durban City Hall as people cast their votes. Picture: Lungani Zungu

Despite some glitches experienced at certain voting stations, South Africans demonstrated their unwavering commitment to democracy as they gathered in their millions to vote in the 2024 elections. Some voters were forced to endure long queues, yet they persevered. Even UDM president Bantu Holomisa, who was initially turned away at his voting station, returned and was allowed to make his mark.

The voting process across the country commenced promptly at 7 am on Wednesday, setting a positive tone for the day.

In Gauteng, a key province in the electoral landscape, most voting stations opened promptly at 7 am on Wednesday. This efficient start was facilitated by the delivery of voting materials on Monday, ensuring that the 5.6 million provincial voters could cast their votes without unnecessary delays. The province boasts a total of 2,480 voting stations.

Voting in Mpumalanga kicked off without a hitch, with no glitches reported. The voting materials were efficiently delivered to 1,565 voting stations, where 1,718,315 voters are expected to cast their ballots, further affirming the smooth progress of the electoral process.

The Free State had a minor setback in one voting station at Phase 7 in Bloemfontein, where the station was burnt down on Tuesday night.

However, voting in other stations across the Free State proceeded without any hiccups, with 1,386,520 registered voters expected to cast their vote in 1,320 voting stations that have opened in the province.

The Northern Cape also experienced a few glitches at one of its voting stations in Joe Morolong Municipality, where police had to be called in to ensure IEC staff and voters’ safety as a group of young people staged a protest outside the station.

Provincially, out of 572 140 voters registered in the Northern Cape, about 39,000 had already voted by 9 am in 655 voting stations around the province.

Meanwhile, political analyst Melanie Verwoerd described the difference between the elections of 1994 and this year, 2024.

“Logistically there is no big difference except for the introduction of the three ballots papers which complicates matters. The IEC has previously commented that there it was fine, however another 30 million ballot papers had to be printed,” Verwoerd explained.

Speaking on the importance of this election compared to the 1994 elections, Verwoerd argues that the 1994 election was unbeatable.

“For those of us who lived through the 1994 elections will remember how crucial it was,” she says.

Verwoerd recalled, “for those of us who lived through the 1994 elections will remember how crucial it was. On the first morning when the polling was opened, bombs exploded everywhere and it was a very different country. People were uncertain if we were still going to have a country by the time polling Booth’s closed.”

She also highlighted that an important part of our democratic journey might see the ANC falling under 50 per cent and almost certainly not get the majority votes in Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.