By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Electoral Commission IEC has confirmed that operations are back to normal after people at the National Results Operation Centre (ROC) in Tshwane were evacuated following power outages.
According to the Tshwane Emergency Services, an electrical fault led to the evacuation at the centre.
The outage, it said, affected communications including a scheduled broadcast of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which had to broadcast in Auckland Park.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said they met with officials from the City of Tshwane and Eskom to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply and consultations continued on Sunday to prevent any glitches.
“It’s an ongoing consultation to ensure there is no disturbance on our operations. Our ROC [is] legendary and [is] able to take us through an election… so we hold the glue of our election operations together. We are working around the clock to ensure that the systems are firm as we head to 1 November (Monday) when millions of South Africans will be voting in this election,” Bapela said.
“It’s in the best interest of our nation to ensure that there is nothing that will interfere with the flow of communication at the ROC. The whole nation depends on the ROC, and we are making sure that it is solid,” Bapela added.
Sunday is the last day for the casting of special votes in the municipal elections.
A special vote allows a registered voter who cannot travel to their voting station on 1 November to vote earlier because they are either physically infirm,disabled or pregnant, or cannot vote at their voting station on election day due to other reasons.
Applications for special voting closed on October 4 with 1.1 million approved special votes for this election.
Meanwhile Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the Electoral Commission Sy Mamabolo,yesterday said the IEC is highly satisfied with the start of special voting.
This despite several voting stations being unable to open in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape .
Mamabolo added that 1 174 voting stations received no applications for special votes and that these would remain closed until Monday November 1.
Monday is election day, when millions of registered voters are expected to vote in districts across the country.