More voters were expected to cast their votes in the afternoon, as Tshwane by-elections for nine wards got off to a slow start.
The Independent Electoral Commission said there was an “uneven” voter turn-out on Wednesday morning.
About 124 692 registered voters are affected by the by-elections for the filling of nine vacant councillor positions.
Gauteng provincial electoral officer Thabo Masemula said as the by-elections took place on a working day, they expected more voters to head to the polls on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are aware that the flow of voters in all the 64 voting stations is uneven. We hope that this afternoon we will experience an increase in the flow of voters,” he said.
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The voting stations were set to close at 21:00.
“This is to accommodate those that are working. If a voter is in the queue at 9pm then that person will be allowed to cast their vote and will not be chased away. The weather seems to be pleasant. We are hoping this will encourage people to go out and vote in large numbers.”
Masemula said generally, by-elections usually had low voter turn-outs but hoped Tshwane would obtain a large number.
“The region has the largest number of wards participating in Gauteng. Out of 15 wards taking part in the by-elections in the province, nine are in Tshwane.”
He said the region had vacant positions before the Tshwane council dissolution in March 2020, but due to hard lockdown measures voting could not proceed.
“Things have been looking pleasing so far, all the voting stations opened on time and there are no reported incidents that we have received thus far.”
Masemula said the results of the elections would be announced on Thursday.
“The special vote that took place yesterday (Tuesday) went extremely well and those that applied for special votes for home visits were attended to.”
Many of the residents who went to cast their votes said they wanted to see improvements in service delivery.
Ward 44 resident Tony Esquino said he hoped those voted into council would sort out the issue of power outages.
“Service delivery is important. The roads and conditions of the public parks among other things, need to be sorted out.”
Faerie Glen resident Anita van Rooyen said she voted to get political leadership that could respond to residents’ needs effectively and on time.
“I voted for a party that can combat corruption in government. They need to start improving the lives of poor people. Money that gets misused in corruption is money that can be used to improve people’s lives.”
Annmarie van der Waalt said she voted in hopes to have crime addressed.
Another resident Dr Ennio Maccagnano said he hoped whatever party won the by-election, would work hard to improve service delivery.
“It’s significant to give a vote to improve the quality and management of service delivery.”
Out of nine wards being contested, three were previously won by the DA and six by the ANC. The elections take place as some of the former councillors resigned and some passed away.
The commission urged eligible voters to find out more about where, when and how to register by visiting the commission’s website at www.elections.org.za.
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