Pretoria — South Africans turned out in their millions to vote in the first general election where social media played a major role. And although problems were reported with some voting stations in Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape not opening because of continued unrest, in general the election process could be regarded as a success. By midday 14 stations in these areas had not opened which the IEC managed to whittle down to a handful by early evening. Considering the fact that they had around 22,000 polling stations, the IEC has been successful in carrying out a smooth voting process. Problems that were experienced at some polling stations were more visible than previous elections due to posts on social media, but it also enabled the IEC to address issues and encourage voters to bring problems to the attention of electoral officers. The Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo regretted the disruption experienced due to unrest and said he was happy with a smooth election process despite some glitches. - Linda van Tilburg

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