NELSPRUIT – The final voter-registration weekend had proceeded smoothly, with both the IEC and political parties being satisfied with the turnout. No problems were reported and a steady stream of voters moved through the stations.
Saturday was a quiet day at most venues in town and people were in and out in less than 10 minutes. As in the rest of South Africa, quite a number of young people came to register for the first time. On Sunday the IEC reported that about 1,2-million people visited registration points across the country and about half of those visitors were aged 18 to 29. A spike in registrations at or near universities and colleges was also reported.
On Sunday morning the rain had party agents worried, but clear skies soon emerged and voters quickly started turning up. It was considerably busier than the previous day, with small queues forming from time to time.
People were positive about the coming elections, with party agents at Laerskool Bergland coming across several of the public who were registering for the first time since 1994. They were also surprised at the number of older voters who had turned up, taking it as an indication that political parties were doing something right and giving voters hope.
At the Ehlanzeni FET’s Nelspruit campus, however, there were passers-by who weren’t interested in registering and said they would only do so and vote if the country’s condition improved.
Mr Francois and Mr Isak du Toit were two positive first-time voters who visited Laerskool Bergland. They said their father had urged them to register and had called a lot of their friends as well. Party agents mentioned another young man had taken it upon himself to recruit his friends and was driving around the area to pick them up.
Despite officials’ expectations of a last-minute rush, the afternoon was quiet and by 17:30 several registration stations had already closed and packed up.
In KaNyamazane, more youths were lining up to register. “I think my vote will count,” explained Ms Terry Maseshego (29) about her decision to register for the first time. Having been eligible to participate in the democratic process twice before, she finally stopped at a voting station in the township’s section six on Sunday to have her name added to the voters’ roll for the general elections scheduled for May 7.
“Of course I will vote for the ANC,” she explained. “This EFF thing is boring. People are fighting and chanting. EFF supporters are only teenagers who don’t know anything. I guess (Julius Malema) has a lot of supporters in Polokwane. But he doesn’t know anything. He should be supporting the ANC.”
At the same venue, another woman Maseshego’s age signed up. “I think it is important to vote. I need a job. Street lights, roads and water are also problems we have.”
According to Mr Thami Mahlalela, a ANC party agent, about 11 young people registered to vote for the first time by 11:00 on Sunday. At the time of going to print, the final figures of the weekend were not yet available.
In Daantjie, however, young people were flocking to the voting/registration centre at the home affairs office. Ms Rose Nkosi and Ms Zodwa Nkalanga, also party agents, recorded 91 youths registering for the first time on Saturday. A total of 222 had also checked their voter status.
Ms Hlengiwe Ngoma (19) was there to put her name on the list on Sunday. Having completed high school in Nelspruit, she wouldn’t venture an opinion on the local schools, but cited issues such as water and roads as challenges which the community faced. “We struggle with water,” she said. “The roads are not in a great condition.”
The IEC urges all eligible persons, even if they don’t know who to vote for, to register as the voters’ roll will only close on the day the election date is proclaimed. This is expected to occur in later this month.
See our special elections pages.
