Ballot boxes found in KZN were part of normal recycling process – IEC

4 August 2016

Durban – Ballot boxes found at a recycling site in Lamontville, south of Durban, were part of a normal disposal process, IEC officials said on Thursday.

"There were ballot boxes at a cardboard recycling site in Lamontville. The boxes were used yesterday at a voting station in the area, and at the end of the count we discard all cardboard items at voting stations for recycling," KwaZulu-Natal IEC head Mawethu Mosery said.

Mosery said that police and an IEC official were dispatched to the scene.

"There were no ballot papers. Ballot boxes for all Lamontville stations were accounted for. We have no issues with the cardboard boxes in Lamontville."

He added: "There is no further investigation from our part. The boxes were correctly disposed of."

Counting completed in KZN

Mosery said that counting of ballot papers had been completed and that officials were now capturing and auditing results.

He said the IEC had captured results from 12 363 voting stations, with just 1 147 outstanding.

He said the highest outstanding numbers came from eThekwini Metro (427 voting stations outstanding), Hibiscus Coast Municipality (182 voting stations outstanding), Msunduzi Municipality (163 voting stations outstanding) and Ladysmith Municipality (191 voting station outstanding).

Mosery added that 22 municipalities were completed and declared, with 21 other municipalities - including eThekwini Metro - still to be completed.

Results were expected to be fully completed by 22:00.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.