The challenges of voting abroad

SOME 29 334 South Africans living abroad cast their votes across 121 foreign missions ahead of the May 8 General Elections.

The top 10 missions with the most voters included London, with 9 084 voters, Dubai with 1 542 voters and New York with 605 voters.

The Northglen News spoke to three South Africans living abroad to find out if they had made their mark.

Nicola Smith, who lives in the United Kingdom said she did not vote in this year’s election.

“Unfortunately there was only one place to vote that I know of, and that was in London. Because we were there last weekend we couldn’t make it down again this weekend. It’s ridiculous that that’s the only place to vote. There are other big cities they should have given stations to. Or given an option to do a postal vote or online vote,” said Smith.

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“Finding out when you would need to vote was easy enough, but when that notification came through it wasn’t clear about where you would need to actually go to vote,” she added.
Smith said she has no plans to move back to South Africa.

“I feel upset- I know we left the country but our family and friends are still there and if we can make a difference and better the country for them then I would have liked more of a chance to vote,” she said.

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Ex-pat Dedre Pereira, who also lives in the United Kingdom, said she made her mark at the ballot box, despite her plans to live abroad permanently.

“I vote because I care about the people who are still there,” she said.

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