CC image courtesy of Neelix.
The Zimbabwe general election, taking place today, proceeded with no violence in comparison with the previous election of 2008, though social media platforms revealed some users had witnessed cases of intimidation.
According to a report by eNCA News, some Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa were in a desperate rush to return to their home country and cast their votes before the polling stations close tonight.
A small group of Zimbabweans reportedly left Johannesburg in the early hours of this morning.
The Zimbabwe polls closed at 7pm (SAST) however, those waiting in the queue after the cut off time will still be able to cast their vote.
HumanIPO reported earlier today the #ZimElection was a hot topic across southern Africa and had trended as number one on Twitter in South Africa for most of the day, while supporters of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic (ZANU-PF) used Twitter to publish threats and insults.
Twitter users reported some people were being turned away from the polls, while others were being threatened with violence should president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF lose.
Activist: “Just had feedback from an activist who drove around rural mat north. He reports lots of people being turned away.” #zimelections
— sokwanele (@sokwanele) July 31, 2013
Muzarabani North, Ward 27: Magaya is intimidating voters in the queue, telling them they will be beaten up if ZANU-PF loses. #ZimElection
— My Zim Vote (@MyZimVote) July 31, 2013
Anonymous whistleblower Baba Jukwa, who uses Facebook as his platform to speak out against Mugabe and ZANU-PF, has repeatedly said he is a member of Mugabe’s party, but made it clear he voted for the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T).
“Team Tsvangirai is the way forward. Don’t forget that voting for anything apart from team Tsvangirai is casting your vote to Mugabe indirectly…” wrote Baba Jukwa on Facebook.
263Chat, described as a crowdsourcing platform for Zimbabweans, has been actively tweeting throughout the course of the election. The platform issued a warning to Zimbabweans to stay in doors after the results are announced.
If you can, ensure that you are indoors at the time the #ZimElections results are being announced.Avoid joining victory marches #263Chat
The MDC-T urged all Zimbabweans who have not yet cast their votes to do so before the polls close.
Come on ZImbabwe, we can certainly do it. We can certainly do this. If you are still to go out, go out and vote…. http://t.co/CX8FWRRA1q
— MDC Zimbabwe (@mdczimbabwe) July 31, 2013
