Live blog: #LGE2016

By
The Daily Vox Team
-

7:00 PM: And that’s it, we’re done. Congratulations, Mzansi! Now we wait for results.

6:45 PM: We received this picture taken at Prestbury Primary in Pietermaritzburg. We’re trying to work out what exactly is going on here. But if indeed voters were purposely misled, in order to cook the election for any one particular party, then we have a serious problem. We’ll be following this up with the IEC.

13940888_10157145660580212_1297483244_n

6:00 PM: The IEC hosted a press briefing at the Results Operations Centre, assuring us that all is well.


 

5:30PM: Khadija talks on Channel Islam from Pretoria about the local elections and what is driving people’s votes.


5:00PM: Our executive editor, Khadija has arrived at the IEC’s national results centre in Pretoria, where the atmosphere is one of quiet anticipation.

The people’s bae, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, spoke to Khadija about how the EFF is doing ahead of the elections.

4:30PM: Reporter Aaisha Dadi Patel popped in at Saxonwold Primary, where she spoke to a few people including young voter, Isa Hoosen, and ophthalmologist Dr Kgosi Letlape.

 

 

 

3:45PM: Police fired rubber bullets and arrested several people during a protest in East London. Protestors were apparently unhappy with the ward candidate selected by the ANC, saying he does not know their problems. One woman says her grandmother was also arrested when she went to vote.

3:30PM: We spoke to members of decolonial movements at universities across SA about their thoughts on elections and whether any political party accurately reflects their interests. Simon Rakei would rather see communal participation than voting once every few years.

 fallists SMC 1

3:00PM: Bad news coming in, with two people confirmed to have died while waiting to vote. In Strydenburg in the Northern Cape, a man died after being escorted to the front of the queue. According to According to presiding officer, Moosa Gam, he did not look well before passing away while seated in a chair. In the Ingwe municipality in Kwazulu Natal, a woman collapsed while standing in the queue to vote. The IEC’s Thabani Ngweri said that they had tried to resuscitate her but could not. She was declared dead after being taken outside.

2:30PM: The queues in Yeoville might be daunting, but IEC officials are sensitive to the needs of the elderly, pregnant and disabled. That’s according to 20-year-old Euginia Qwabe.

2: 10 PM: Voting day brings out the awwwwww.
Ahmed Mather sent us this image of his ID book – he’s voted in every election since 1994, and today his daughter got her thumb inked for the first time.

Co7UlwdWcAAfHZE

Also, who knew that voting together could be #RelationshipGoals? Zakaria Sultan sent us this picture of his and his wife’s thumbs after they voted for the first time as a married couple.

Zakaria Sultan

1:54 PM: Our reporter, Jameel Abdulla had headed across town to Yeoville, where the queues look immense.

12: 40 PM: Here’s a thought. Are all voting experiences created equally? Professor Steven Friedman is wondering whether all of us are having a smooth ride through the polling station.

 

Certainly from a gander at the comments on this Facebook post, it appears most people, across the country are having a painless voting experience. There have however been some problems reported, specifically with scanners malfunctioning at several stations across the country. But other than that, it seems to be plain sailing. And this Zimbabwean points out, that despite our challenges, we are a good example to the rest of the continent when it comes to holding a free election.

 

12: 20 PM: Voting is serious business. But there’s always time to smile, and laugh at ourselves.

Hamish-IEC

 

Eubie-elex

 

12:00PM: Jasmine Zwane, 24, from Bez Valley says her parents, as well as recent political arguments convinced her to come out and vote today.

11:50AM: Things in Mondeor are going very slowly. A friend of The Daily Vox explains that voters went in without having their ID documents scanned, and then had to come out again so it could be done. Buuuut the scanners are nowhere to be found. Awks.

11:40AM: Thapelo Ditjoe, presiding officer at Marlboro explains why the line was so long this morning – scanners were delivered late. He also suspects that an ANC member was brought in intentionally to display party regalia, which is against the #VotingDay rules.

11:30AM: Not everyone believes in voting for change. Residents of the Cape Flats have started a campaign to get voters to spoil their ballots with blood.

spoil your ballot with blood

One of the members of the campaign, Judith Kennedy, says the police have had a word with her, though.

11:10AM: Many voters will be taking to the polls for the first time this year. Here’s 19-year-old student Razeenah Manack from Bezuidenhout Valley explaining why she’s excited but a bit nervous about voting.

11:00AM: Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. At Marlboro, Rajesh Ramsamy is unimpressed about having to wait an hour and a half in line to vote. Here he is confronting the chief presiding officer, asking him if he wants the people to storm the centre in masses.

10:50AM: Gopolang Bokotlhwane has joined us for our special election coverage, and he’s in Mafikeng.

Veronica Dlamini, 24, is a single mom. She's a first time voter and hoping for a better house.
Veronica Dlamini, 24, is a single mom. She’s a first-time voter and hoping for a better house.
Edwin Bosman, 65, want better health services. Edwin knows what it's like to have no choice.
Edwin Bosman, 65, wants better health services. Edwin knows what it’s like to have no choice.
Pharare Nko, 45, is voting to defend the revolution
Pharare Nko, 45, is voting to defend the revolution

10:45AM: Just in case you were undecided:

10:40AM: Jameel has just arrived at a voting station in Marlboro. Here’s what the line looks like:

10:30AM: Well, Baba is not Number 1 in the Nkandla voting queue yet.


10:20AM: Things are quiet at Wits, where the ANC has provided a number of minibuses for students to travel to the voting stations where they’re registered.

ANC minibuses

Witsie, Bongani Dingiswayo (19) is disappointed that other students aren’t voting.

10:05AM: Shoutout to other politicans who don’t cut the queue.

*side eyes Danny Jordaan*

10:00AM: A quick shoutout to the IEC officials doing stellar work to make sure the right to vote is exercised without hassle.

IEC officials

09:45 AM: Don’t look away while we pause for an ad break. Our #LGE2016 coverage is proudly supported by ASRI – Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute, who are doing some excellent work, including running the “Future Leadership Programme”. 

Elections SMC new 2

09:35 AM: Poonam Parbhoo, 40, from Bedfordview, says the ANC has had enough chances. She’s voting DA.

09:35AM: Amanda Sibisi (27), originally from Durban, explains how healthcare and homelessness are the biggest issues she’s seeing in Joburg.

09:25 AM: Silumko Dlamini, who is 25 years old, says issues related to youth and small business development must be addressed by local government. His picks – ANC for the City of Jo’burg, but he’s voting for a DA ward councillor.

09: 20 AM: Here’s Rethabile Lepheana, 28, who says we’ve become too used to sitting around and waiting for government to do things for us.

09: 15 AM: So, we’re not sure about other mayoral candidates, but here’s the ANC’s mayoral candidate for Tshwane Thoko Didiza actually standing in the queue like a normal person.

Slack for iOS Upload

08:30AM: Things look like they’re going smoothly at a voting station in Bedfordview.

Dana Bedford high 1

08:00AM: Our reporter, Jameel Abdulla has just arrived at the Johannesburg City Hall. He explains why the ANC might struggle to hang on to this important metro.

city hall voting 1

And how about this interesting turn of events? We’re not sure Madiba would be down with this, DA.

07:45AM: For those of you who are not sure how it works inside the polling station, we’ve got you covered here.

The TL;DR version:

The ballot papers that you will receive have different colours and depends on the type of municipality in which you are registered to vote.

In metropolitan councils (Joburg, Tshwane, eThekwini, Cape Town, Buffalo City, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Mangaung) there will be two ballot papers:

· Yellow ballot paper for the metro council election: you will vote for a party of the proportional representation (PR) list
· White ballot paper for the ward elections: you will vote for a person to represent the ward.

In local council areas (outside of metropolitan areas) there will be three ballot papers:
· Yellow ballot paper for the local council election: you will vote for a party of the PR list
· White ballot paper for the ward elections: you will vote for a person to represent the ward
· Green ballot paper for the district council election: you will vote for a political party

Here’s a bit more detail if you’re still confused:

07:15AM: We’re still not sure if the ANC really did spend 1-billion rands (!) on their election campaign. But the last few months, we’ve seen political parties across the blue-yellow-red divide spend more money on their election campaigns. Is it money well spent? We asked around.

07:00AM: Happy election day y’all. Polling stations across the country have just opened and we’re ready to bring you all the highlights right here.

via GIPHY

06:54: More and more, we’re hearing that young people don’t see the point of voting.  Are the results a forgone conclusion or, do you feel you can influence political change?
ward31

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR