Political parties were generally happy with the number of voters registered throughout South Africa last weekend. It was the final voter registration week-end drive before the next general election, ex-pected towards the end of May this year.
However, voters may still register at the Independent Electoral Commission offices in the Forum Building in Parys, until the President announces the election date.
‘We had a steady trickle of voters registering, checking their registration or changing their addresses on both days last weekend,’ says Carina Serfontein, the DA caucus leader in Ngwathe. ‘But, I think there are still many people who missed the opportunity to visit their local voting stations.’
‘Everything went well, except when the rain leaked through the holes in the roof and flooded the town hall in Parys late on Sunday afternoon, added the DA councillor, Shirley Vermaak. She and members of other parties officially liaise with the IEC.
‘The IEC staffed 72 voting stations throughout the Ngwathe municipal area. Stations in the five towns were generally well supported but many of those on farms received minimal support.’
The Gazette previously reported that Parys now has two new voting stations – one at NG Parys-Suid (between Delver and Rubin streets) in Ward 12, and the other at BASA Park in Ward 13. Both were quite busy.
With the new NGK-Suid voting station expected to eliminate queues at the crowded Parys Library, 83 voters had already been to register by just after 11:00 on Saturday morning.
Among those who visited the voting station was the municipal manager for Ngwathe, Mr Bruce Kannemeyer.
The voting district is bordered by End Street in the east, Third Avenue in the south and Unie Street in the west. The northern boundary is along Loop Street, Grens, Schilbach, Noorder and First Avenue up to End Street. The BASA Park voting station caters for voters in the area south of Third Avenue between End and Unie streets. They previously cast their ballots at Schonkenville Hall – some distance away.