Voter numbers were low due to voter apathy and the maturing of SA's democracy, while the IEC is said to have done 'exceptionally well'.
Though the dismal voter turnout and glitches related to the use of electronic voter identification verification systems emerged as the biggest talking points of the 2021 local government elections, experts believe things went just as expected. They say the hiccups were to be expected, with growing voter apathy having signalled the former, while a testing election environment signalled the latter.
DA leader John Steenhuisen has called for an inquiry into the IEC’s use of supposedly faulty voter management devices , claiming that the issue left many voters disenfranchised. , of the 238,403 registered voters whose details were not uploaded onto the electoral system, 129,615 later managed to vote after eventually being captured on the database. It is unclear what happened to the remaining 108,788.Those turned away were reportedly among the more than 1.
University of Johannesburg professor of politics Siphamandla Zondi warned against casting aspersion on the elections without facts, saying the number of complaints about glitches were the same or even fewer than during previous elections, when manual systems were used. “That assessment can only be made based on facts. They will have to make a factual basis for that and then discuss with their legal counsel which legal principles are the best to use and the strategy to follow for court. That is a normal assessment by any litigant who wants to take a matter to court,” he said.In 2016, voter turnout slightly improved from 57.
“It was a year of big protests, the looting in July and the moment of disillusionment. Disillusionment tend to make people not turning up to vote but overtime we expected that this would be a trend. If you look at established democracies in the world, when they have 30% turnout they celebrate. It seems that it is just a trend that as you mature as a democracy, less people participate,” Zondi said.
Voters at the Edenglen Primary School voting station in Edenvale during the voting day, 1 November 2021. Picture: Neil McCartney
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