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WEDNESDAY MAY 7 2014 Established October 17 1887 R7,00 inc VAT Annual subscribers: R6,13 For subscriptions contact: [email protected] ★★★★★ www.star.co.za ★★
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IT’S YOUR DUTY
Call for patience, tolerance after violence mars start to voting
LOUISE FLANAGANAND BABALO [email protected]@inl.co.za
GOOD weather and goodbehaviour, please. Thatis what electoral offi-cials are hoping for at
today’s polls.“Don’t miss this opportunity to
make your voice heard and to haveyour say in the future of our coun-try. South Africa needs all yourvotes,” said chief electoral officerMosotho Moepya.
He called for patience and toler-ance after a start to the pollsmarred by community protests, a voting official who didn’t knowthe law, and slow special votes inthe Durban area.
“We appeal to all voters to exer-cise patience and tolerance, and toact in a manner which shows pridein our country as they visit thevoting stations,” said Moepya.
“We make a special plea to thosecommunities which have beenexpressing their frustrations andgrievances through protest actionto respect the rights of all SouthAfricans to make their voice heardthrough the electoral process.”
Late yesterday, Moepya said theIndependent Electoral Commissionwas ready for the polls.
The IEC and justice, crimeprevention and security clusterministers had identified potentialhotspots in KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal; Bekkersdal, Gauteng; Mari-kana, near Rustenburg, NorthWest; Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape;
and Malamulele, Limpopo.More than 40 people were
arrested this week in Gugulethu,Ekurhuleni, for rioting.
Yesterday, the Eastern Cape gov-ernment declared the SterkspruitCivic Association an intimidationthreat to voters after residentstorched parts of a school. Resi-dents also burnt tyres near a localtavern.
In KwaZulu-Natal, angry resi-dents reportedly torched the Mand-lanzini Community voting stationnear Empangeni, the ANC said.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC secretary
Sihle Zikalala said anyone foundcommitting illegal acts on electionday “should indeed face the fullmight of the law”.
“The ANC says this in the wakeof reports that agents provocateurs,who fear the verdict of the elec-torate, are planning illegal action toderail the democratic process bypreventing our citizens from exer-cising their right to vote.”
Zikalala said the police hadapprehended a few people, “alle-gedly from the ranks of the Eco-nomic Freedom Fighters (EFF)”,who are responsible for the torch-
ing of the Mandlanzini Communityvoting station.
The ANC considered the right tovote and choose one’s governmentas “sacrosanct, inalienable andworth safeguarding at all costs”.
EFF KwaZulu-Natal convenerReggie Ngcobo denied their in-volvement in the torching.
“I will have to verify the matter.But as you all know, we’ve neverbeen violent, even when violencewas at our doorsteps. We try by allmeans to defend ourselves. Theseallegations are unfounded.”
Community protests led to four
voting stations in ward 14 of Maru-leng, Limpopo, being unable toopen on Monday. Last night,though, everything was back ontrack.
“Obviously we are taking(threats of protest) seriously andhave planned for them, so we arenot caught by surprise. We arecomfortable with the security plansthat are on the table so we, togetherwith the security agencies, don’tanticipate problems,” deputy chiefelectoral officer Sy Mamabolosaid.
The election process in generalwas going smoothly. He said IECofficials were reporting that allspecial votes had been completedyesterday.
“It’s all systems go for (today).The special votes (which took placeon Monday) will be counted andreconciled after voting on May 7,and then they will be mixed up withthe rest of the ballots.”
Moepya also confirmed that anelectoral official from KwaThema,Springs, was replaced after storingvoting materials – including twospecial votes that had been cast – in a party official’s home over-night. The incident was tweetedabout by another party official,who Moepya thanked.
“We mentioned the challenge ofcellphones and social media withregard to breaching secrecy. Butthis was a case in which a cell-phone camera and an alert partyagent and the power of socialmedia helped us to enhance thecredibility of this election, and weremain grateful,” Moepya said.
SACRED RIGHT: Chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya has appealed to all voters, especially those who have resorted to protesting, to act in a manner today that shows pride in our country.
0SCAR’SALLEGEDJIBEUPSETSFAMILY –PAGE 3
South African Airways, the leading airline on the African continent, hasbeen awarded the 4-Star Airline ranking for 2014 by Skytrax, the inde-pendent global airline rating organisation, for the 12th year in a row
ELECT ONS
2014See Pages
2, 4, 5, 8 and 9
DOWNS TAKE
PSL TITLE �16SOLLY [email protected]
SECURITY was expected to be tightat polling stations throughout thecountry as millions of SouthAfricans cast their votes.
SANDF spokesman SiphiweDlamini said the SAPS wouldwork jointly with defence forcemembers who would be deployedto volatile areas if the need arose.
The Johannesburg metro policedepartment (JMPD) also forms partof the security plans to ensure freeand fair elections and the safety ofvoters.
Yesterday, SAPS spokesmanSolomon Makgale said policeofficers would be deployed to allpolling stations to monitor the
situation. “There will be policeofficers inside and outside thepolling stations,” he said.
However, Makgale would notbe drawn into revealing howmany police officers would bedeployed.
“We never give out numbers;generally there will be a highpolice visibility.”
Makgale said other policeofficers would be “patrollingin the vicinity of the polingstations so that if there is aproblem, they are able to respondpromptly”.
JMPD Chief SuperintendentWayne Minnaar said their officerswould escort the ballot boxes aswell as other materials needed atthe polling stations.
They would also escort theboxes to the results centreafterwards and assist the SAPS inpossible hotspot areas.
“They will monitor all thepolling stations until they close toensure a safe environment for thevoters,” Minnaar said.
Other traffic officers wouldensure free traffic flows on theroads and respond to any incidentas quickly as possible.
Dlamini said the SANDF hadbeen part of the security clustersector’s security-plan discussionsfor the elections.
“We will do an analysis of theproblematic areas and deployour members accordingly,” he said.– Additional reporting by BothoMolosankwe
Bekkersdal IEC sites burntKUTLWANO OLIFANT, SOLLYMAPHUMULO AND JOYCE [email protected]@[email protected]
ANGRY Bekkersdal communitymembers have burnt down Inde-pendent Electoral Commissiontents that would have been used aspolling stations today.
Flames and smoke from theburning polling stations could beseen from afar in the township atabout 9pm last night.
Three polling stations were
burnt to ashes and one person wasarrested, according to the police.
Community leader PasekaNdevu said residents were un-happy with the army’s presence.
He said the community hadraised their concerns during ameeting held at a community hallin the afternoon.
Ndevu said the meeting hadbeen called by community leaderswho were pleading with residentsto go and vote peacefully.
“The community said the pres-ence of the army brings back badmemories about the apartheid era.
They said they were willing to vote,but they wanted the army to moveout of the area,” he said.
Ndevu said the meeting hadended with residents saying theywould vote. He was surprised whenhe received calls telling him thatIEC tents were on fire.
Police said Bekkersdal residentsran amok and burnt the polling sta-tions after the meeting had ended.
The army has been deployed tothe volatile township since Mondayin order to maintain order in thearea during the election period.
To Page 5
Tight security promised at polls
KASRILS,THIS ISWHY SAMUSTVOTE –PAGE 8
● DA losesANC SMSappeal Page 2
IN ASHES: People clean up the remains of a voting station that was set alightby community members in Bekkersdal last night. PICTURE: BOXER NGWENYA