On the eve of the elections, the IEC warned the public against taking pictures of their ballot papers after voting. However, the police confirmed that the police in Gauteng arrested around 20 people for election related crimes, including those who took pictures of their marked ballots.

WE HAD SOME CHALLENGES

Speaking to SABC News this morning, Gauteng SAPS Commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni said so far, the police have arrested 20 people for election related crimes. "Indeed, it was a little bit challenging ensuring that the communities are and feel safe but we were in a position to restore order. I can confirm that since our last update, the number of the cases reported has indeed gone up and currently we have 20 within the province."

He highlighted that is an offence to take or publish photographs that reveal a person's vote on a ballot paper. "The purpose of this law is to maintain the secrecy of your vote and the privacy of others. It is crucial to understand this regulation in the context of its purpose to protect vulnerable voters from coercion," he said, adding that, "Some of the issues are typical cases of intolerance by the voters where they ended up in a scuffle, and then they fought. Ultimately, one of the voters approached the police and opened a case. Those are some of the cases which we have picked up recently."

VOTES FOR FAVOURS

The IEC explained that the reason for restricting people from capturing their marked ballots was to avoid incidents of voting for a certain party in exchange for favours. 

"For instance, workers could have been ordered to photograph their marked ballots in exchange for favours or a party might have demanded such images in return for money or food parcels. For such reasons we urged voters to wait until they have left the voting station before sharing a selfie."