Norman Simons (74) and Reverend Maureen Simons (71) are going to make their mark on May 8
Are you voting May 8? #IMadeMyMark.
The general elections will be held on May 8, with this being the sixth one since 1994. We interviewed Norman Simons (74) and Reverend Maureen Simons (71) from Riverlea and asked the couple about their first time voting in 1994 and how they feeling about these upcoming elections.
Norman was 49 years old the first time he voted and Rev. Maureen was 46 years old in 1994.
“I was asked to work with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) because I was working with the church. My husband and I both worked for them off the Hillbrow area.”
“We were assigned to work with the IEC officials and we had to make sure that the voters were in line and that everything went smoothly. The morning of the voting, the queues went out of the park where we were working. They had a few stations in the park but it was all packed.”
“The work was very hard during the build up to the first democratic elections but we were all happy and excited for the day. We were one of the first people who voted because we had to open the stations. For me it was an exciting moment,” explained Rev. Maureen.
Norman explained that it was a special and exciting day for him as it was an opportunity that he never had for 49 years. When asked about how they feel about these upcoming elections, Norman said: “I don’t feel excited about voting but I will vote and everyone should vote.
“I believe that a strong opposition party is good for keeping the leading party in line but at the moment I don’t know who to vote for.”
Rev. Maureen added: “I’m very despondent about it because I don’t know who to vote for? I heard people calling in on the radio and I feel like it’s a general feeling because we don’t know where our country is going to. In my sermon the other day, we doing a series about mending nets and my past series was about mending my nets of my community and my country and I said to everybody there
“I cant tell any of you how you can mend a net in the country of South Africa but it needs a lot of us to remember that mending nets means building up and we are called as Christ’s people to build up every aspect in our life’s’.
“I told them that I can’t tell them how to mend the nets but what I can tell them that if you are a person who believes that God has set you here, you have to do something that you know is right.
“I think we in a time of uncertainty, and I still don’t know who to vote for but I will be voting on May 8 and I encourage every South African to practice their right to voting.
Follow Us Here:
Catch the latest news by visiting our other platforms:
