The head of the AU observer team to SA. Nigeria’s former leader Olusegun Obasanjo says South Africa’s general elections were free fair and credible.

Obasanjo who had toured the Kwazulu-Natal, Nkandla, Durban and two other areas, observing the polls said the electorate had exercised their voting rights with enthusiasm which was indicative of their desire to make a success of the polls despite genuine fear.

He said his impression of the polls is a testimony to the birthing of a mature democracy in South Africa. The chief AU observer argued that the incidents of electoral malpractices were isolated and would not affect the credibility of the election. ‘We cannot legislate for the behavior of electoral officials, we must make allowance for human error’ The former Nigerian leader argued adding that if 4 electoral fraud incidents were reported in the entire country, the electoral commission-IEC deserved to be congratulated.

http://connectafrica./2009/04/23/obasanjo-scores-sa-polls-high/