LISTEN | Citizens need to take seriously the effect the electoral system has on day-to-day lives: politics lecturer

Voting day was, on the whole, off to a smooth start on Monday for most of the more than 23,000 IEC voting stations countrywide. Despite this, there were some interruptions by service delivery protests.

Protesting community members in some areas denied IEC agents access to the voting sites. 

TimesLIVE reported on Monday afternoon that protesting community members in Mkhambathini municipality in KwaZulu-Natal prevented eight voting stations from opening this past weekend. Some community members in the area have vowed not to vote unless their local chief is reinstated.  

There are more than 26-million South Africans registered for the local government elections. Polls opened at 7am on Monday and will close at 9pm.

Thapelo Tselapedi, lecturer in the department of political & international studies at Rhodes University said citizens need to take seriously the influence the electoral system has on their day-to-day lives.

“We need to understand that the maturing of democracy means understanding how the electoral system works.”

The disruptions and their affect: