Only a quarter of registered voters had voted by noon.
Voting started slowly in the Western Cape’s most populous townships, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, today. When Elitsha visited voting stations in wards 96, 93 and 89 in Khayelitsha and 116 in Mitchells Plain, between 09h00 and 11h30, there were no queues and voters would arrive in groups, get processed and leave soon after.
According to the provincial electoral officer, Michael Hendrickse, all the Western Cape’s 1,623 voting stations were opened this morning but not without any hiccups. Problems with the voter management devices at some voting stations were resolved, while Hendrickse said, long queues at some voting stations were shortened by getting more personnel and material to the stations.
Hendrickse told reporters that by midday, the Independent Electoral Commission had issued just a quarter of all ballots, most of them in the City of Cape Town. 3.4 million registered voters in the Western Cape are expected to cast their votes today.
“At around 12h30 this afternoon, 824,242 voters were already issued with ballots in the province and of these, 524,162 were issued in the Cape Town Metro,” he said. He stressed that if a voter is in a queue by 21h00, they would still be able to vote.
Issues for voters
Ward 89 resident and voter, Amanda Ntsweza said that youth unemployment is a big problem in her community and she would like the new council to prioritise it. “If you were to go with me into the community, you will find young people loitering with nothing to do. In terms of service delivery, we have a problem of overflowing drains and when we speak to the ward councillor, he does not help,” she said.
Blowey resident in ward 93, Liziwe Ngindane said her house is one of 17 that burned down in November last year; they are still waiting for material to rebuild their homes. “The cause of fire was faulty electrical appliances at one of the residents. We got some food from the Department of Social Development but that is the only help we got. We are still waiting for Eskom to fix and re-install electricity in our area,” she said.
Grade R teacher, Joy Mentor from Eastridge said that crime and gang wars are ravaging the communities in Mitchells Plain. Mentor said that the next council should prioritise education and make sure that children’s issues are attended to.
Fiona Jacobs said that housing and subsidisation of the poor by government must be a priority for whoever comes into power after the elections. “I grew up in Eastridge, struggling, but I’m in Portlands now. People are really struggling out there with the high cost of living and homelessness,” she said.
There are 106 political parties contesting the elections in the Western Cape. The voting stations will close at 21h00 today.
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