IEC: Ballot boxes stolen in Dobsonville
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed ballot boxes for Ward 29 and 31 were stolen in Dobsonville, Soweto on Thursday.
In a statement the IEC says it is unlikely the perpetrators were aware the boxes contained ballot papers as the vehicles and boxes are unmarked.
"As part of security measures, each ballot book has a unique serial number allowing the Electoral Commission to identify which ballots are affected and to quarantine these immediately."
The IEC says given the security features built into the ballot papers, it is confident the loss of these ballot papers will have no impact on the integrity of the elections.
The IEC says police are investigating the incident.
"The recovered ballots will remain quarantined and contingency measures are in place to replace the ballots at the voting stations affected," the IEC said.
This comes just five days to the local government election on 3 August.
The election has been described as the most hotly-contested since 1994.
Edited by Laila Majiet