Thabani Ngwira from the Electoral Commission says there is no evidence of voter boycott in this week’’s by-elections.
Durban - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says the three by-elections held in three municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday went well without any reports of disruption of the voting process.
The elections came following the deaths of councillors in Mandeni and uMzimkhulu, and a councillor’s resignation in eThekwini.
In all the wards, the ANC, DA, EFF and IFP were the main contestants. In ward 12 in uMzimkhulu the ANC won, capturing 65.7% of the vote, and also won in Mandeni, with the DA retaining the ward of eThekwini.
IEC spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said they were pleased that voting had proceeded without any incidents being reported.
According to the IEC in uMzimkhulu there was a 51.9% turnout, in Mandeni it was 32.53% and eThekwini recorded a 27.23% turnout. In eThekwini there are 15 000 registered voters.
While it has been suggested that the low turnout amounted to a voter boycott, the IEC said it could not ascertain this.
“We have noted the low voter turnout during these by-elections and can call it apathy, but there is no evidence that this is a voter boycott,” Ngwira stressed.
The by-elections came on the same day in which the IEC released a finding which indicates that South Africa may see a low voter turnout in the 2024 elections.