Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON COMMUNITY ELECTIONS 12H30, WEDNESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 1995
STATEMENT BY THE MEC FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT & HOUSING, MR DAN MOFOKENG
We have just returned from a helicopter trip over the province with the MEC for Safety & Security, Ms Jessie Duarte we spent an hour and a half in the air, and we are delighted to report that, from where we were sitting, it seems as if our first community elections are proceeding wonderfully.
There are some problems, yes But most of these are small and have caused minimal inconvenience to the millions of voters in our province. They relate to the late opening of polling booths and late delivery of material. But our reports from these polling booths indicate that most of these problems have been ironed out.
The one major problem remains the situation of people who have been turned away from some polling stations because, although they are registered, their names do ns contrary to the election regulations, and we have sent urgent circulars to returning officers pointing this out to them.
We would like to point out to the public that they have the right, if they are registered voters, to insist that returning officers phone the various voter hotlines. If their names do not appear on printed voters' rolls, but their names are on computer, they will be required to fill in an ERI15W Declaration, and their ID numbers must be written on the counterfoil of their ballot papers.
Under no circumstances should an unplaced voter or a voter whose name appears on the computerised voters' roll be turned away from polling station.
But these small problems are outweighed by the many positive things we witnessed from the air today.
As someone who fought vehemently against the illegitimate local authority elections of the past - where we would generally see voter turnouts in the townships of less than 1% - it was encouraging to see the long queues snaking around Alexandra Stadium, in Tembisa, in Soweto an in other East Rand townships.
In Orlando East, for example, where there were rumours of boycotts today, we could see from the air the thousands of colourful umbrellas dotting the streets - a sure indication that the people of our province are voting, and voting in large numbers.
But the real miracle of Gauteng is Khumalo Street in Tokoza, which was once a site of bloodshed and mourning, where people from different political backgrounds are walking side by side down this infamous street to cast their vote at the Tokoza Auditorium.
We have not yet reached the halfway stage in today's voting; the polls have only been open for five a are receiving encouraging signs that this community election is unlike any other held in our country's history.
The Premier and the Leader of the House will be joining us to announce some of the results in the early hours of tomorrow morning. We will give you more details of this later.
Finally, if there are voters with problems they should phone the Voter Hotline on 0800 111 006.