Service delivery protests hinder voter registration drive

Thousands of residents went on the rampage burning

properties during the voter registration weekend.
 Pic by@Chriseldalewis

Voter registration in some parts of the country were disrupted, as protesters were preventing Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials from doing their work.

At the Silvertown informal settlement in Port Elizabeth, protesters turned away both IEC officials and African National Congress regional leaders. They told the IEC to dismantle and remove theirs voter registration tent.

Angry Bekkersdal residents on Gauteng's West Rand attacked all voter registration stations in the area. Voter registration stations were temporarily closed due to the violent clashes between residents and the Red Ants, which have left scores of residents severely injured on Saturday.

In North West province, voter registration struggled to start in Majakaneng near Brits due to the on-going protests by the residents who demand drinking water.

Thousands of residents went on the rampage on Thursday, burning properties, barricading roads and disrupting learning at the local schools.

 Click below to see the PhotoSnack of service delivery protests.

http://www.photosnack.com/my-slideshows/details/p7tkqhnp?jsalbum=1

Despite on-going protests, IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula has appealed to South Africans to allow people to exercise their democratic rights without any hindrance.

Tlakula says their rights should be respected.

Tlakula says: "We are appealing to South Africans to say to them, we are leaving in a constitutional democracy. So we all have rights, those who want to participate in voter registration should be allowed to do so and should not be intimidated. Those who want to stay it is also their right to do so."

Click below to see the Storify of Voter Registration drive.

http://storify.com/sabcnewsonline/last-weekend-for-voter-registration-drive

Speaking on AM Live on SAfm last week, Professor Steven Friedman said the reason why there are violent protests in South African townships is because people there are not listened to and taken seriously. Edited by Sthembiso Sithole.

Click below to listen to Professor Steven Friedman.

Download episode (MP3 688.0 KB)

This article first appeared at SABCNews. It was done by Sthembiso Sithole.