The electorate’s spokesperson in the Free State, Mmabatho Rasengane, tells OFM News all 1 529 voting stations across the province have been contracted and are ready to deploy all their staff. She says all preparations are on track and they are finalising the training of all electorate staff. Rasengane highlights that all security measures have been put in place and the IEC is confident the elections will be free and fair.

“We have area managers that have been trained. We are currently training members of the SAPS, just in case we have riots and no-go areas for our staff, so that we can deploy SAPS members as their replacements,” added Rasengane.

The IEC said special vote applications for the elections have closed and they are now focusing on overseas voters who will be casting their ballots on April the 27th .

Rasengane has confirmed that they captured the special votes applications until April 26, but does not have a total number of applicants yet. She, however, alludes that stats currently stands on 47 276 special votes for both home visits and voting stations.

Overall, 28 political parties will be contesting the elections in the province with 1,4 million registered voters expected to cast a ballot.

Free State Provincial Electoral Officer, Jabulani Tshabalala, has also confirmed that all political parties have signed the code of conduct and that they do not foresee any major hiccups during the elections.

 He said they have noted that there has been a number of protests in the province, but does not believe they will pose a threat to the big day on May 8. 

OFM News