Johannesburg - Predictions on Monday indicated that Mpumalanga is one of the provinces that faced a low voter turn out.
According to the IEC, by 1pm on election day, in Mpumalanga 12.8% people had voted, making it province with the least amount of ballots cast.
More figures were expected on Monday evening and Tuesday, when results are expected to trickle in.
Meanwhile, Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane arrived to long lines at Witbank Golf Club, where she cast her vote.
Mtsweni shot-to-fame earlier this year, where she flouted Covid-19 regulations by not wearing a face mask during the late Jackson Mthembu’s funeral, and she was forced to apologise and slapped with a fine.
When she arrived, she first went to the ANC party table, then greeted DA and FF Plus, where she told party agents that her party’s votes will be more than theirs.
Also voting in the province was ANC deputy president David Mabuza, who urged South Africans to go out in numbers and vote, reminding them that a lot of people died for this democracy.
He said he voted for the ANC and he will die as an ANC member.
Mabuza voted at Azuri Nursery Farm in Barberton, Mpumalanga. On Monday morning, he urged South Africans to go out in numbers to vote, saying many people lost their lives fighting for democracy.
It was reported that voter turnout, especially from youth, was poor in Mpumalanga.
Mpumalanga ANC’s acting chairperson Mandla Ndlovu voted at Thulamahashe, in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.
He said things were going slow but attributed that to the hot whether and said that it was early.
“I urge voters across the province to come out and vote, it is your democratic right to do so,” said Ndlovu.
The ANC has, since the inception of democracy, performed well in Mpumalanga.
The province had bad publicity recently, after former MEC of agriculture Mandla Msibi was arrested for double murder and attempted murder.
Msibi was granted bail of R20 000 last month, after spending a week in jail for murder and attempted murder charges, relating to a shooting incident that left two people dead in Mbombela, four months ago. One person was injured during the shooting.
nkosi.ntambo@inl.co.za
Political Bureau