Late start at Glebelands Hostel has election officials on edge
‘Technical hitch’ delays voting materials at Umlazi hotspot
When voting was delayed at the volatile Glebelands Hostel in Umlazi, south of Durban, it uncharacteristically had nothing to do with violence in the notorious area. But Siyabonga Ngema, the Electoral Commission of SA’s (c's) presiding officer for the voting station, said they had to act fast to avert a crisis. “We had a huge problem. We didn’t have all the voting materials. We didn’t have scanners, stamps, ballot papers. It was technical problems and I quickly contacted the (IEC) area manager. These materials duly arrived at 8:30am,” he said.
Glebelands Hostel was one of the areas flagged by the IEC as a hotspot in KwaZulu-Natal. Since 2014, 106 people have been killed at the hostel in the intra-ANC branch disputes involving the allocation of beds and rooms. Those killed include Zodwa Sibiya, an ANC councillor in eThekwini Municipality, who was gunned down at the hostel shortly before the 2016 local government elections. Two men were shot and killed there three mo...
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