By IPS Correspondents
PRETORIA, Apr 14 2004 (IPS)

South Africa’s third democratic election got underway at almost 17,000 polling stations across the country Wednesday morning, with reports of isolated problems at certain venues.

While a number of politically related deaths have been reported in the run-up to the vote, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said there had been only – minor incidents of misunderstandings between persons” during the past few hours.

In the south-eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where relations between the ruling African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party have been strained, the presiding officers of thirteen polling stations were relieved of their duties after they were discovered to have been campaigning for political parties. A similar incident took place in the northern Limpopo province.

However, the Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission, Pansy Tlakula, said her organisation was still trying to verify what form this campaigning had taken – or which parties it had been done on behalf of.

This general election, which also marks South Africa’s tenth anniversary of democracy has been dominated by concerns about unemployment, crime and the AIDS pandemic. Over 20 million people have registered to vote in the poll, which amounts to 75 percent of eligible voters.

More news to follow shortly.

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