Informal settlement residents allegedly chase away IEC registration officials

According to GroundUp, residents of Marikana informal settlement in Cape Town chased away IEC officials during a voter registration drive, expressing frustration with the electoral process.

The chaos allegedly ensued minutes after the IEC set up registration systems, when community members proceeded to intimidate officials.

Residents cited dissatisfaction with living conditions and lack of basic services, including electricity, as reasons for their protest against the IEC, and that they have given up on politicians and elections.

Some residents express conflicting views, acknowledging the need for change but highlighting the futility of participating in elections without improvement in their living conditions.

Marikana, an illegal settlement in Phillipi East, with over 100,000 estimated residents (true numbers unknown), faces challenges such as limited basic services, illegal electricity connections, flooding, and shack fires.

In 2017, a court ruled that the private land seized by the land invaders should be handed over to them, but the City of Cape Town has not purchased the property from its lawful owner yet.

The IEC provided the Cape Independent with official statement, denying the eyewitness testimony provided to GroundUp, and affirming their commitment to the registration process:

“[…]on the weekend of 18 and 19 November [in] Marikana in Ward 35 in the Cape Town Metro, two voting stations did not open due to issues unrelated to the IEC. In the interest of the safety of the staff, the owners of our venues and the community members, the decision was taken not to open. Your report that the IEC was chased away is inaccurate. It is also not true that tens of thousands of voters were affected as the other voting stations in Ward 35 were operating.

Echoing the sentiment as expressed by the Chief Electoral Officer, is not acceptable that members of the community cannot make use of the opportunities provided by the IEC to participate in our democratic processes. We call on members of the community to always allow the IEC to operate across the province while they resolve their concerns with the relevant role-players.”

Hostility and apathy to electoral engagement among black communities in the Cape has been increasing in recent years, with voter turnout skewed towards White and Coloured voters, a trend which has seen Charterist parties (ANC and EFF) decline in the province to the point of virtual political exclusion.