DURBAN - THE Daily News spoke to various political parties about their readiness for the hotly contested local government elections.
African People’s Convention (APC):
APC president Themba Godi said his party was ready.
“We are confident that we will emerge much stronger than ever before. There have been isolated cases of the usual fraudulent conduct of some officials, like in Tzaneen (officials doing house visits with ANC agents only), and Bushbuckridge (more special votes than had been officially approved, and the closing and then opening of a station without informing party agents). Overall we are satisfied with the IEC’s preparedness.”
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF):
The EFF in eThekwini spokesperson Mazwi Blose said his party had placed party agents at all 110 voting stations.
“We are ready for a total takeover and for an outright win. In some voting districts we encountered problems as the voting stations were either not opened or were late to do so. Where there were other pressing issues we managed to fix those with the IEC. We … believe the process will be peaceful.”
Democratic Alliance (DA):
DA provincial leader Francois Rodger said his party was fully prepared and ready.
“Our teams have been hard at work on the ground over the past year-and-a-half. We look forward to the change that will happen at the polls on election day. The DA is confident that voters will choose a party that gets things done.”
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP):
IFP eThekwini leader Mdu Nkosi said that although his party was ready, there were concerns about various voting stations where presiding officers were arrested after trying to rig elections in ward 93 Kwa-Makhutha Kusakusa voting stations.
“We are happy with our party agents and encourage those responsible for the voting districts not to steal the elections and rig our votes. We beg voters to make the right choice and express their concerns through the ballot.”
Patriotic Alliance (PA):
Upbeat PA KwaZulu-Natal leader Rocky Clark said: “We are very happy with our preparation and our agents were well trained and, we can't wait for (on Monday). The PA is ready.”
Daily News