Durban - The Electoral Commission of South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal says that police have been deployed to two voting stations in Nyuva in the Mkhambathini Municipality, in KwaXimba, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, after certain community members locked them to stop voting going ahead.
In a handwritten note put up outside one of the voting stations, they threatened any voter, or electoral staff, who attempted to enter the station.
“As we have said before that nobody will vote and we don’t expect the gate to be opened whether by a staff member or a voter. Go ahead and open it if you want to see what will happen,” the note stated.
The community members who locked the voting stations are reportedly demanding the reinstatement of their local chief.
IEC KZN spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said the situation had been resolved with the deployment of the police, who would ensure operations can go ahead at the affected voting stations.
Ngwira said that members of the community had locked the gates into the voting stations on Friday night, but the police had broken the locks so that those needing to access the voting stations, either to work or to cast their special votes, could do so.
“The SAPS has deployed six members to each voting station to provide safety and security for our staff. Their presence and them breaking the locks meant our staff were able to gain access to the voting stations in wards 2 and 3 that are affected in Mkhambathini KwaNyavu. Our staff is currently working in those voting stations,” Ngwira said.
Political Bureau