The 2016 Municipal Elections went off without any major incidents reported.
Police and the army were on high alert throughout the day, and minor disruptions were quickly brought under control.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) admitted that there were a few hiccups at certain voting stations in rural areas, where tents blew over, or the election stationery was delivered late.
The elections did claim two lives though.
A women collapsed at the Bulwer voting station in KwaZulu-Natal, and a man fainted at Strydenburg in the Northern Cape
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:
EN-GB;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">– both died before they could cast their votes.
The IEC said four motor vehicle accidents involving election staff were reported early yesterday but no one was seriously injured in any of the incidents.
“Isolated reports of unrest and community protests affected the start of voting were only received from a few wards in the Eastern Cape
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:
EN-GB;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">– including some voting districts in Ward 16 in Ntabankulu, and some voting districts in Ward 8 in Amathole.”
In Nkandla, President Jacob Zuma was greeted by a 100-year-old ouma who danced for him when he joined the queue at Ntolwane Primary School.
Zuma urged people to vote to “move the country forward.”
Economic Freedom Fighter leader Julius Malema made his mark at Mponegele Primary School in Seshego with his wife Mantwa and his grandmother at his side.
Malema complained that the voting booth was too “exposed” and raised his concerns with IEC officials.
He said the EFF was looking forward to see voting results: “We’ve put up a good fight, it ends here. It is now in the hands of South Africans.”
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane and his wife Natalie voted at Allen Glen High School, in Roodeport.
He said he was not nervous and was “looking forward to the results”.
It is understood that the IEC will announce the election results by this weekend.