By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Police Minister Bheki Cele says voting is going as normal as more police officers had been deployed across the country, except some parts of the Eastern Cape.
Cele voted at Lamontville High School in KwaZulu-Natal, where the queues were quite long, according to the minister.
On Wednesday morning, millions of eligible South African voters braved the cold weather and lined up at various poll stations to cast their votes.
The stations opened at 7 am and will close at 9 pm on Wednesday.
“We have scanned the country this morning and, so far, it doesn’t look like we have major problems except for the Eastern Cape, where some voting stations have been closed and the IEC has withdrawn its staff but we have sent more police at that station,” said Cele.
“The issue there is that the community itself has taken the decision not to vote. But looking around, the stations have been opened. We believe that everything will be okay.”
Cele said no ballot boxes would leave any voting station without being escorted by the South African Police Service (SAPS) or other law enforcemen to the local storage sites.
These sites will then be guarded on a 24-hour basis.
Nearly 3,000 members of the South African National Defence Force have been deployed to strengthen the police’s work in safeguarding the elections.
“There are areas where there will be the SANDF, not too many of them, because there is no war in the country. Police are adequate, unless there is an extra thing that will necessitate the call for the SANDF to be invited. In other areas, it will be the metro officers who will escort the material.”