Election Day kicks off early in Sandton

Community members were early birds at voting stations across all the wards on 7 May. This according to various ward councillors who were overseeing the voting process in their respective wards.

Ward 32 councillor Darren Bergman said the turn out at the voting stations in his ward was good. “The vibe at Buccleuch was great,” he added. “People are even selling boerewors rolls here. The DA and ANC are out here dancing together. The community came out in their numbers.”

Gordon Mackay, the Ward 90 councillor said the voting stations in Hyde Park and George Lea Park were running smoothly in the morning. “Hyde Park is such a breeze and there are no long queues,” said Mackay. “George Lea is going a bit slower in comparison however, it is because a lot of the elderly are being assisted. I’m sure it will move faster as the day progresses.”

Ward 91 councillor Andrew Stewart said there were long queues from the early morning in his ward. “But everything appears to be running smoothly,” he said.

Ward 106 councillor Stephen Moore said the morning was off to a busy start in his ward. He said by 10am 3 200 people had gone through the voting process. “Overall it is going well,” he said. “It was busy in Rivonia because the voting started late, however the queues are getting shorter as the day progresses.” Moore added that the machines were not operational at first but they were later fixed.

He said the police force was visible. “They were very friendly and polite,” he added. “I’m worried if we will get through everyone by the end of the day. We’ve only gone through 20 per cent of the ward this morning. At this rate I’m not sure if everyone will get through by the end of today.”

Ward 109 councillor Lillian Kekana said the queues at the voting stations in Wendywood were long. “Many people registered to vote in this election so there are a lot of people to go through,” she said. “The overall voting process is moving steadily as it should.”