DURBAN - A voting station has been badly burnt at KwaNyavu in Camperdown allegedly by people opposed to voting in the area which falls under the KwaNyavu traditional council.
There has been a chieftaincy dispute in the area after the provincial government removed Inkosi Skhosiphi Mdluli in December last year.
Residents supporting the deposed Inkosi had vowed that they would not allow anyone to vote until the government reinstated him.
Speaking to the media early on Monday morning Police Minister Bheki Cele said the crèche which was used as one of the eight voting stations in the area was found burnt in the early hours of Monday.
The road leading to the polling stations at Mistake Farm was dug out allegedly by people opposed to voting taking place in the area. This is in ward 6 under Umdoni municipality in Umzinto, South Coast @PhungulaWillem #Elections2021 #LGE2021 #LocalGovernmentElections2021 pic.twitter.com/c7tmWKGkLh
The minister said the other seven stations remain open except the burnt crèche which had not yet opened.
He further announced that police had taken over as presiding officers in the seven stations.
The situation was tense during the special voting on Saturday and Sunday after people believed to be supporters of the deposed Inkosi locked all eight stations with their own padlocks forcing IEC staff to cancel voting.
Police Minister visited the area on Sunday and announced the deployment of 147 police officers.
Meanwhile the road leading to polling stations at Mistake Farm was on Monday morning found dug out allegedly by people opposed to voting taking place in the ward 6 under Umdoni municipality in Umzinto.
Minister Cele said provincial commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi had flown to the area and organized a TLB grader to fix the road.
Residents had also disrupted special voting over the weekend.
On Saturday the disruption resulted in a shootout with police which left one officer wounded. Residents do not want the current ward 6 councillor Reggie Dlamini to return, adding that they did not nominate him but had been imposed on them by the ANC.
The party’s local leader however denied this, saying that those who did not want Dlamini had boycotted the community meeting where he was nominated. The minister and provincial commissioner had visited the area on Sunday.
To comment on this story send a WhatsApp message to our BackChat column on 071 485 7995
Daily News