Today, millions of South Africans head to the polls in what is being hailed as the most highly-contested elections since the end of apartheid in 1994. This historic moment marks the 30th year of electoral democracy in the country.
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Key Statistics
- Registered Voters: A staggering 27.75 million South Africans have registered to cast their ballots, with a gender distribution of 44.76% men and 55.24% women.
- Political Parties: A total of 1,792 registered political parties are vying for the votes of these 27 million citizens.
- Significant Voting Provinces:
- Gauteng: The country’s most significant voting province, with 6.5 million registered voters.
- KwaZulu-Natal: Closely following Gauteng, with 5.7 million registered voters.
- Eastern Cape: 3.4 million voters.
- Western Cape: 3.3 million voters.
- Limpopo: 2.7 million voters.
- Mpumalanga: 2 million voters.
- North West: 1.7 million voters.
- Free State: 1.4 million voters.
- Northern Cape: 657,000 voters.
Special Voting and Incidents
- Special Voters: On Monday and Tuesday, special voters participated in the elections, although not without glitches.
- Taxi Protests: In the Eastern Cape, taxi protests led to the closure of some voting stations. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is working with the Natjoints to ensure citizens in the province can vote safely.
- Tampering with Ballot Boxes: Two people were arrested in Mpumalanga for allegedly tampering with ballot boxes at two voting stations. In KwaZulu-Natal, two police officers were removed from election deployment after video footage showed one of them wearing party regalia at a voting station.
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the IEC for its meticulous preparations, saying, “We have once again witnessed the capabilities of the IEC – in the successful voter registration weekends, in the registration of parties and candidates, in the preparation of ballot papers, in the organization of overseas voting, and in the diligent application of our electoral laws.”
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