With fiercely contested national and general elections behind us, South Africans from across the political divide have mixed reactions over the performance of the national elections controlling body (IEC).
Shocking incidents that leave a lot to be desired about the less than impressive performance of the IEC in ensuring a free poll include the confusion caused by voters who were denied the right to cast their ballot as per the new regulations which dictate that a person can only vote where they had initially registered.
As if this was not enough, voters in some districts in our region, Sedibeng were left with egg on the face as load shedding wrecked havoc and delayed voting.
In other incidents still in Sedibeng IEC scanners did not work properly, leading to more delays in voters exercising their right to vote.
Closer to home incidents such as the one involving a blind woman who needed her husband’s assistance to choose a party to vote left a dark mark on the electoral process.
Apparently here IEC officials denied the husband entry into the ballot booth and insisted that their own officials help the woman, something which didn’t sit well with the pair that eventually decided not to vote.
The string of mishaps regarding the poll has also seen political parties across the spectrum register their unhappiness over how the elections have been allegedly mishandled.
The MK party has already condemned the IEC in a statement and has accused the body of bringing a reputable entity into disrepute.
The organisation, led by former President Jacob Zuma, has called for heads to roll at the IEC in sharp reaction to the shenanigans associated with the 2024 elections.
Meanwhile the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Commander in Chief Julius Malema has also slammed the IEC for what he called incompetence in handling the elections.
Malema said the EFF is of the opinion that the handling of the recent polls shows no sign of improvement from the IEC given past experiences of conducting elections in 2019 and before.
He accused the IEC of having regressed instead of progressing in their administration of elections.
Meanwhile the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African Congress for Transformation (ACT) have both expressed intentions of heading to the courts to challenge of behavior by the ruling party President Cyril Ramaphosa allegedly unduly influencing voters wishes while campaigning for elections.
The IEC, on the other hand, conducted a press briefing after voting closing time on Wednesday declaring elections free and fair.
This was despite many objections from political parties chastising the structure over alleged irregularities and rampant trampling of many South Africans right to vote
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