Tshwane – South Africans have continued to place their trust in the current vote counting process stating that they are confident that their ballots will be counted accurately.
This has emerged in a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
Acting strategic leader and research director at the HSRC Dr Benjamin Roberts stated that 84% of voters were completely or very confident that their vote would be accurately counted with 52% of the voters saying they were confident while 32% said they were very confident.
"Only 1% said that they were ‘not confident at all’ in the vote counting process," Roberts said.
This comes as 67% of the votes had been counted by 11am on Wednesday.
Video: Timothy Bernard/African News Agency (ANA)
Reports of some officials tampering with ballot boxes in some provinces and the subsequent arrest of an official had been a major concern for the IEC earlier in the week.
The IEC had also allayed fears over reports that some voters couldn't find their names on the voter's roll, stating that the individuals were tracked down and later given a chance to cast their votes before voting stations closed at 9pm on Monday.
Despite glitches in some districts on Tuesday when vote counting gained momentum, the IEC meanwhile said it was confident that the figures in all municipalities would be completed by the end of the day.
The counting of votes is expected to be concluded on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the HSRC said an overwhelming majority of sampled voters (95%) have indicated that the election procedures were free.
In Mpumalanga, 98% of the voters said the elections were free and fair while 90% in the Western Cape shared the same sentiment.
noni.mokati@inl.co.za
Political Bureau