I just spoke to Gareth Stokes, editor with MoneyWeek SA, who I interviewed for my latest investment report and video. It’s election day in South Africa, and I wanted an on-the-ground report about how things were going. Here’s Gareth’s take on the day so far…

It’s 18:15 and the voting is well underway. Voting stations opened at 07:00 and will close at 21:00 so there’s still quite a way to go. I drove by some of the local stations and the queues are long; but everything is proceeding peacefully. Took me two hours from beginning to end to cast my votes. Counting begins after 9pm and we will probably have a good indication of the final results within 48 hours. Pre-election polls (not as accurate as those used in the US) forecast 67% for the ruling party (African National Congress) and around 13% for the next biggest party, the Democratic Alliance. Incidentally there are 26 parties on the national ballot - of which eight are expected to secure 99% of the vote (meaning the other 18 share 1% and are pretty much non-entities).
 
Electoral officials expect more than 80% of the 23m registered voters to make their mark.
 
What else can I say - it’s been a very quiet and uneventful day. There was a crime related shooting at a rural voting station early this morning (one of the electoral officers was wounded in an attempted robbery) and there have been one or two claims of ballot fixing (involving 100 ballot papers)…

I’ll post again tomorrow if there are any results… And I have more to share in Taipan Insider tomorrow.

I just finished my article for Taipan Insider… South Africa’s elections are happening this Wednesday, and Jacob Zuma is predicted to be the next president, with his ANC party taking many of the seats in Parliament.

I’m working on my in-depth research report on the country, and the accompanying video, but I wanted to share a couple links with you about the elections.

South Africa: Township reports
Zuma to Lead South African Democracy Hurt by His Rise
South African Party Leader Shrugs Off Suspicions

Today, leaders from the 34-member Organization of American States met in Trinidad for the Summit of the Americas.

These are 34 countries with democratically elected officials, so that, of course, doesn’t include Cuba…

Yet.

President Obama recently announced an easing of the travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba, though he didn’t go so far as to lift the trade embargo…

Yet.

But this thaw in relations is being looked at positively by all Latin American nations, and many hope that discussions about the “exiled” country will be much more open and fruitful during this Summit. Cuba herself is open to discussions.

Raul Castro, Cuba’s president, said in a statement made in Venezuela at a conference meant to counter the Summit of the Americas, “We are willing to discuss everything, human rights, freedom of press, political prisoners, everything, everything, everything they want to talk about, but as equals, without the smallest shadow cast on our sovereignty, and without the slightest violation of the Cuban people’s right to self-determination.”

The move to warmer relations is welcomed by both the United States and Cuba, but both acknowledge that it will take a lot of time and mutual respect before Cuba is officially back in the fold.

Since Captain Richard Phillips was dramatically rescued by U.S. Navy Seals on Sunday, pirates of the coast of Somalia have stepped up their attacks on ships.

On Monday, they hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats and two freighters… On Tuesday, two more freighters and four skiffs were taken by force… And just last night, a U.S. cargo ship carrying food aid for Africa was attacked.

The international community is working together in a joint task force to try and tackle the problem, but it’ll take a lot of work, and a lot of ships. In the mean time, one might expect to see shipping costs and insurance premiums escalate for this region…