Election observers commend local government polls
The South African Council of Churches, the National Foundations Dialogue Initiative and the Women’s Election Mechanism for Peace deployed 619 observers across all nine provinces.
Quinton Mtyala
Picture: Emmanuel Croset/AFP
Emmanuel Croset/AFP
Election observers said that this week’s local government elections were free and fair.
The South African Council of Churches, the National Foundations Dialogue Initiative and the Women’s Election Mechanism for Peace deployed 619 observers across all nine provinces.
In a preliminary statement, they said that voting was peaceful and orderly, and that they found no major issues of concern.
The observers say 96 percent of polling stations were peaceful during the day. Police were present at nearly 95 percent of stations observed.
But the groups noted that violence before election day, including intimidation and political killings, was regrettable. They said that it did not materially affect the vote.
Voter turnout rose to 15.9 million, up from 12.3 million in 2021. Still, the observers say turnout of 54.5 per cent of registered voters is a concern.
They also flagged long queues at more than 80 per cent of stations, and technical glitches with the electoral commission’s voter management devices.
The groups praised the commission, but say queue management and processing times must improve.
They urge all parties to accept the outcome with political maturity.
A full report will be released in due course.