Protests stall voter registration operations at some stations in Gauteng, Mpumalanga

JOHANNESBURG - Service delivery protests stall voter registration operations at some stations in Gauteng, Mpumalanga.

Voting stations in Gauteng and Mpumalanga are facing challenges on Saturday morning, with community protests bringing registration to a halt.

Service delivery protests in Gauteng and Mpumalanga have stalled operations at various voting stations on Saturday morning.

In Gauteng, the IEC’s Boitumelo Monaki said that a station in Refilwe, ward 99, in Pretoria, which was prevented from opening was now up and running.

However, she said there was now a developing situation in Lethabong, ward 100, also in Pretoria.

"The voting station opened on time, however, the community came through and barricaded the voting station and removed IEC banners. They are trying to address the issues. The staff is still inside the voting station, however, the community can’t access the voting station."

Meanwhile, in Mpumalanga the IEC’s Thanduxolo Chembeni says "a few" stations hadn't opened.

"At 8 o’clock we managed to open, except for a few stations that had challenges - some stations around Mbombela due to load shedding, which affected our network. But now load shedding’s gone, we are back on track. In Nkomazi, one of our districts, ward 6, our stations did not open there due to community protests. In Bushbuck Ridge, several stations in different wards - ward 6,7,9 and ward 14 - stations there did not open due to service delivery protests."