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#LGE2021: NW IEC mum on election day issues

───   OLEBOGENG MOTSE 08:27 Tue, 02 Nov 2021

#LGE2021: NW IEC mum on election day issues | News Article
VIDEO SCREENGRAB

The North West’s branch of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa remains mum on the myriad of issues that affected their Itsoseng and Lichtenburg voting stations on election day.

The voting station in Itsoseng’s ward 13 – the local Methodist church – was yet to close at 11 pm on Monday evening. Local police had to be called in to quell the tensions from frustrated voters who, two hours after the voting station was meant to have been closed, were yet to cast their votes. 

Earlier on OFM News reported that several voting stations in the small settlement, nearly 50km outside of Mahikeng, did not have ballot boxes delivered on time from Lichtenburg. 

Media queries sent to the IEC on these wards remained unanswered until today. No mention has also been made of Public Order Police being called in to quell tensions at the Thabo Mpempe Primary School in Lichtenburg. The OFM News team attended to the scene following reports that the large crowd became restless during election day. Despite OFM News witnessing the presence of the police, the North West Police’s Communication Office, denied receiving an alert from this area.

A well-placed source in one of the Itsoseng voting stations says he, as an IEC official, was told that ballot boxes were held up in Lichtenburg due to a quarrel of some kind.

Lichtenburg resident and EFF ward 6 leader, Tebogo Moipolai, who was a part of the group that held up IEC officials in the area for 3 hours on Sunday, alleged that some suspicious activities had taken place. Moipolai said they observed an IEC official offloading some ballot boxes in a suspicious manner on Sunday, and held said official up for 3 hours demanding to know why he was leaving two boxes behind in the Navara van. 

READ MORE - #Elections2021: Tempers flare in NW over five-hour wait for ballot boxes - VIDEO

It does appear that no load-shedding was reported in the area during the counting of votes. 

The head of the IEC in the North West, Tumelontle Thiba, previously told the media that everything was sorted for the local government elections, including contingency plans for possible load-shedding in the form of IEC lanterns and generators.


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