Zuma urges South Africans to vote in local elections

South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday urged South African voters to cast their ballots in the ongoing local government elections, saying every ballot counts.

"If you are citizen of this country and you want this country to develop, you have got to exercise your vote" as an instrument to help the country move forward, Zuma said after casting his vote at the Ntolwane Primary School in his native place of Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

He said every vote "is important" because it demonstrates the right of citizens.

"To be a citizen and sit and be neutral is not a good impression. Are you thinking about the country, moving the country forward, do you want to see development? And if the answer is yes, then you must vote so that you can participate in moving the country forward,"Zuma said.

"Don't just stay at home, your vote is important and is your right," he stressed.

The elections kicked off with high gear early Wednesday. Most of the polling stations across the country were operational, except for a very few, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said.

"Your future is in your hands, South Africa. Your vote is your voice, so make it heard!" the IEC said.

With 26.3 million registered voters due to cast their ballots at 22,612 voting stations countrywide, this election promises to attract one of the highest voter turnout numbers since democracy.

Also on Wednesday, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) reaffirms its confidence in IEC to oversee a peaceful, legitimate, free and fair and incident-free election.

"The ANC joins South Africans in calling for a peaceful election and urges all our members and structures to actively play their part in ensuring the election takes place incident-free.

"The ANC further calls on its members who will be voting in areas where there have been high levels of political tension, to exercise tolerance and restraint, even in the face of provocation," ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

All South Africans and first time voters in particular should exercise their hard-won right to vote, Kodwa said.

"Participatory democracy is inextricably linked to people's power, a principle the ANC continues to advance," he said.

The elections were seen by many as being the most contested since 1994. For the first time in history, this election saw 200 political parties and over 61,000 candidates participating.

The parties are contesting 4,392 wards in more than 200 municipalities.

The ANC, haunted by a series of corruption scandals, would probably lose control of major metropolitans like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Bay, according to opinion polls.

About 2,000 SA National Defence Force members have been deployed to help the SA Police Service in all nine provinces during the municipal elections, marred by violence that has claimed the lives of at least 25 people, 14 of them candidates fielded by political parties.

The soldiers would be on duty until August 10. Endit