“It’s quite unfortunate. I’m here in Ward 49 where the problems occurred. There are nine voting stations and only four of them opened on time, and the other five, like this one at Community Centre, opened at 08:45,” said Motsoaledi.

“We are going to have to speak to the IEC about this, but what I know is that anyone who is in the vicinity of the station after closing will be assisted.”

Voters were left frustrated as ballot box seals were not available in the morning. People started gathering at 06:00, hoping to be first in line, but only got a chance to cast their votes after 08:00.

Begged to stay

Motsoaledi arrived at the station to find voters sitting on chairs, with no activity inside the hall.

He met with the IEC area manager to try and establish what the cause of the problems was.

“She claims she was involved in an accident, because they had all the voting material, except for a few paraphernalia like the inks and the voting seals. It was not good for the voters because some came as early as 06:00, with some threatening to leave. We had to beg them to stay,” he said.

Motsoaledi added that he would be seeking clarity regarding the closing time of the station, given that they started more than an hour and a half late.

“But now that they started at 08:45, we will have to ask the IEC officials to explain what will happen, because we are also not satisfied with that,” he said.

News24