Tension arose at the Glebelands hostel when members of the Umkhonto weSizwe party (MK) clashed with members of the African National Congress (ANC). MK accuses the ANC of intimidation with campaigning directed to voters inside the voting station.
Speaking on behalf of MK, Mr Guy Malamba stated that the ANC violated the Independent Electoral Commission’s rules by intimidating voters within voting sites. “We want to know how the IEC staff inside allowed the ANC to provide people with t-shirts. This violates people’s right not to be intimidated inside the voting area,” said Malamba.
Responding to the ANC’s Deputy Secretary of Ward 76, Mr. Simphiwe Duma, who claimed that his team provided t-shirts but did not intimidate people with them.
“People requested ANC’s t-shirts. It’s unbelievable that in South Africa, there are people who think you giving people a political party t-shirts means that the society will vote for that political party. People want service delivery and infrastructure.A person would not vote for a particular party just because they are given t-shirts, ” said Duma.
Voting at the Glebelands station is slow due to issues with the IEC technical problems. Around 2000 people were registered to vote at this site.
