GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Residents have mixed reactions regarding the postponement of the upcoming local government elections in October this year.
The announcement was made by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) after retired judge Dikgang Moseneke's recommendations that the upcoming local government elections in October should be postponed to February 2022.
The reason was due to the raging Covid-19-pandemic that continues to cripple the country's economic and health infrastructure.
Moseneke said the situation in the country makes it impossible to hold free and fair elections as social gatherings and other disaster management protocols will be compromised during campaigning and the actual voting process.
Mixed reactions
Some community members in Graaff-Reinet townships reacted with mixed reactions.
Umasizakhe resident Nomsa Mdluli said to postpone the elections now is in the best interest of the country.
"The pandemic poses too much danger to citizens and to risk it by continuing with the local elections is not clever. But once the elections are back on track we as voters can address service delivery - or the lack thereof - through the ballot box."
Bonakele Wilman, also from Umasizakhe, believes that postponing the elections to February is understandable due to the threat of the pandemic.
"But the unfortunate part is the fact that the people will have to bear with the non-delivery of services and incompetence of the current administration, which is unfortunate as people obviously wants change in their lives."
Kroonvale resident Sherwin Ludick said the current situation in the country is terrible and the commission has done a good thing by the postponement as the lives of our citizens should be taken into consideration first and foremost.
"Elections can take place at another time when the dust has settled," he commented.
The local IEC in the Sarah Baartman Municipality could not be reached for comment with regards to other viable methods that could have been used to conduct elections like electronic voting, which was conducted in some first world countries like the United States and China.
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