WATCH: Some Tsakani youth choose soccer over voting
While some young citizens dismiss the day as a waste of time, others are excited by the opportunity to make their voices heard.
Tsakani – It is just after 07:00, and a group of young people in Ext 10 are playing soccer across the road from the Mountain of God voting station in Ward 84.
To them, today is just an ordinary day. Lack of access to dignified housing and electricity, as well as poor road conditions, remain major challenges facing residents of Ext 10.
The 2026 Local Government Elections come at a time when the community is also experiencing water shortages, with residents saying they go for days without water. Yamkelani Ralayo (19) says service delivery in the area is poor.
“We have water outages every week. In a week, water goes off four times. Streets are dirty, and waste hasn’t been collected.”
Another young man, Themba Khoza (23) bemoans the state of their playing field.
“We are complaining to the councillor. We are asking that they give us a ground and install poles so that kids can play soccer.”
Ralayo and Khoza say as long as service delivery remains poor they will not vote, explaining that only politicians benefit from the votes.
As the young men continue to play soccer in the hot weather, first-time voter Sbonisile Maseko (23) says she is excited to vote for change.
Maseko has encouraged other young people to come out and exercise their democratic right to vote.
“I want to encourage young people to come and vote so that they don’t sit on things they want to see happening. They can take their hope and vote, and see if what they would like to see happening comes to fruition.”
