More than 100 voting stations not yet open in KZN

Sabotage and protest action has resulted in more than 100 voting stations not being able to open in KwaZulu-Natal by mid-morning on Wednesday.

IEC acting provincial electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga said out of over 4,000 voting stations in KZN, 101 stations were still not operational.

Masinga said in the Ukhahlamba district in the KZN midlands, trenches had been dug outside voting stations, preventing staff from gaining access.

“The department of cooperative governance is working with the police and municipal officials to fill up the trenches so that we can open the stations," she said.

Masinga said similar trenches had also affected voting at some stations in the Umdoni area on the south coast.

She said in the eThekwini area, protest action had prevented access to 88 voting stations, including in Umbumbulu, Folweni and Adams Mission, south of Durban. 

“These were identified as potential protest hotspots because of protest action following floods there recently. Police are there and we hope to open the stations soon. We will not close those stations that have been affected at 9pm because of the delays in opening them.”

Masinga said reports that two community halls being used as voting stations had been burnt were untrue.

“Upon investigation, it turns out that a councillor’s office was set alight with two tyres, but police managed to get the fire under control," she said.