A JOURNALIST was arrested and later released following a squabble at a voting station, in Soweto, on Monday.
“Police were forced to remove a television journalist and a cameraman from a polling station in Orlando East, in Soweto, after they allegedly interfered with the work of the presiding officer at that station.
“It is rather unfortunate that this situation resulted in a confrontation between police and the journalist,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo.
He said the matter has since been escalated to the provincial SAPS commissioner of Gauteng, who ordered the release of the journalist and an investigation into this matter.
Naidoo declined to give further details when pressed about what exactly transpired at the voting station.
[BREAKING NEWS] #Newzroom405's Journalist detained by cops during #LGE2021 coverage.
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) November 1, 2021
Tune into channel 405 for more details on this story.#Vote21 pic.twitter.com/wXFR1q74a3
Meanwhile, the IEC said the vast majority of the country’s 23 148 voting stations reported being open on time, at 7am, and that voting was flowing smoothly.
The IEC said delays in voting were reported in less than 1% of voting stations due to a variety of circumstances, including tents being blown over by high winds overnight, and the late arrival of election staff and voting materials in a few voting stations.
IOL