IN PICTURES: Slow start to voter registration in Alex
ALEXANDRA – Many residents could have easily gone online to register and hence they will not be seen near stations, says ANC Ward 76 candidate councillor Zandile Mothupi.
The Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) weekend voter registration exercise opened to a slow start in Alexandra today, September 18.
This was the widespread perception of presiding officers in various voter registration stations in the township visited by the Alex News team.
Presiding officer Sibusiso Myeni at the Dr Knak Primary School voter registration station said they had only serviced one person when the Alex News team arrived there just before 09:00.
“It’s terribly quiet for a start of the exercise. Normally we expect people on a first day to jostle each other to get registered and then the excitement tends to die towards the last day.
“But this is sad as we have a pathetic start but I am confident that [it] may be towards the end of the day they tickle in more rapidly than this morning,” Myeni said, adding that the weather, too, had not been kind to registration weekend as it was a cold day.
“Some people may have woken up late while others went to work. There are also funerals to attend today and all this might have contributed to apparent voter apathy towards registration,” Myeni said.
He appealed to the youth to come forward and register themselves so as to be able to vote on elections day. “The present, not just the future, belongs to them and hence I urge them to come forward.”
Ward 76’s Thusong Youth Centre registration station presiding officer Wilhelmina Mohale echoed Myeni’s sentiments, saying people were not coming in at all and added, “I am not sure what could be the reason.”
She was optimistic things could change as the day progressed. “Since we opened at eight [o’clock] on the dot, I have not seen even a single youth coming in to register,” she said.
Zandile Mothupi, an ANC Ward 76 candidate councillor, disputed the youth apathy towards the elections. “Ama-2000 [generational youth] are a generation of technology and hence they could have just sat home or wherever they are and registered online.”
Other party desks were manned by ordinary party members and candidates were not available to talk to Alex News at the time of visiting them.
