Parties criss-cross Mpumalanga to woo voters as protests delay opening of 7 registration stations

EHLANZENI, Mpumalanga - Political parties were out on the streets of Mpumalanga to try to woo voters during the second and last leg of the voter registration weekend. 

Former ANC provincial chairperson Fish Mahlalela is expected to conduct a door-to-door campaign in ward 22 in Pienaar, just outside of Mbombela on Saturday.

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Pienaar, which is notorious for criminal activity, is an ANC stronghold and it’s also the hometown of the party's suspended provincial treasurer, Mandla Msibi.

Msibi was suspended from the party last month following accusations that he tried to sabotage the ANC's 112th birthday celebration.

Residents of Pienaar are trickling into voting stations, hoping to register so they can vote for change in their communities in the upcoming elections.

Just last week, the area's residents took to the streets, protesting poor road infrastructure.

Some of the young people that have made their way to voting stations on Saturday morning expressed frustration over the lack of job opportunities, load shedding and water outages. 

ANC provincial chairperson Mandla Ndlovu was campaigning in Bushbuckridge while the EFF's Treasure General Omphile Maotwe was expected in the Govan Mbeki municipal area.

Meanwhile, DA Mpumalanga leader, Jane Sithole, has encouraged people to vote in order to deliver a new government that will stop corruption in the country.

Sithole is campaigning in the Emalahleni Local Municipality.

She said she was quite optimistic that the party would be able to unseat the EFF as the official opposition party in Mpumalanga. 

The EFF ousted the DA as the official opposition in the Mpumalanga legislature in 2019.

Meanwhile, the MK Party is appealing to residents to vote for it in order to get their land back.

Several voting stations had also not opened yet in Mpumalanga.

The IEC's Thanduxolo Chembeni said seven voting stations were affected by service delivery protests.

"IEC is working hard with SAPS and community leaders to get all stations open, we will update with developments."

The IEC is set to hold a media briefing at lunch to provide an update on how registration has fared thus far.