Residents of Kliptown went out in numbers to cast their votes at the Khayalethu voting station on the morning of May 29.
Although many people were happy with the voting process, some expressed disappointment because they were unable to vote.
Grace Mapoulo (68) told Soweto Urban that she was not going to vote after she was turned back from her usual voting station at Kliptown.
She said she was told to go and vote at the Khayalethu voting station, however, upon her arrival, the IEC officials told her that she could not vote.
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“They said I should go to the Department of Home Affairs without properly explaining what was wrong.
“I cannot go to Johannesburg now, so I will basically miss these elections. I will fix this issue at a later stage, and I will be ready for the next elections,” said Mapoulo.
Another resident, William Khumalo (60), said he usually votes at the Khayalethu voting station, but today he was redirected to Kliptown Youth Projects.
“I am still going to vote because I want to see change in my community, we need proper streets, lights, refuse removal, and service delivery in general.
“I believe that the party I vote for will meet our needs. I have seen that the contractor has been appointed to build roads, and I hope they complete it,” said Khumalo.
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Nicholus Duplessis (44) from Eldorado Park said he registered to vote; however, he will not participate in elections.
“I personally don’t have any sort of hope about these elections. As an unemployed person, I do not see anything beneficial about voting; we do not get anything out of it,” said Duplessis.
Less Van Staden (54) from Naturena cast his vote at Naturena Primary Two, he said the process was a bit slow because the IEC officials only had one tablet for scanning IDs.
He said the other blander that became a problem for other voters was that the officials were prioritizing families that came in groups.
They skipped the queue, ignoring people who came earlier, he explained.
“I think the party I vote for will make a difference because the challenges we are facing are nationwide, be it load shedding, water shedding, crime, and unemployment. We are voting because we are affected and we want chance,” noted Staden.
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Reverent Hughie Samson (55) from Ext 10, Kliptown, told Soweto Urban that they inherited the bucket system toilets from apartheid and are still subjected to those conditions to date.
He said they had a serious problem with electricity, it is slowly being sorted out, but they still have a long way to go.
“Kliptown has been forgotten; there are many informal settlements. We thought a democratic government would have provided proper housing for people,” said Samson.
He complimented the voting process at Khayalethu voting station, saying it had improved and was efficient.
“We have been praying for this day, the same way we were praying to vote during apartheid. We do not care which party wins, but the party that wins the elections should cater to all South Africans,” he said.
