Cape Town - Voters across Cape Town came out in their numbers yesterday despite sweltering temperatures in some areas, as snaking queues at polling stations were observed across the metro.
Stations opened at 7am with voters receiving three ballot papers: national, regional and provincial.
First-time voter Keira Wilson, 18, was at Thornton Primary School.
She said: “I looked for a party that is fair and equal to everyone, that isn’t disrespectful and offensive with the needs and wants of the young people.”
At Pinelands Primary School, 86-year-old Marion Went said she applied for the special vote but IEC staff did not arrive at her complex.
“We got special preference as we got to the voting station. They didn’t explain why they didn’t come to us,” said Went.
Politicians also stood in the line with the Pinelands residents.
Former Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool said: “I must say nothing can take away the fact that it’s exactly 30 years, one month and two days since I first cast my vote as a South African. Nothing takes away the absolute honour of 30 years later being able to practice that freely.”
GOOD Party leader Patricia de Lille said yesterday was her seventh time voting in the democracy.
“As South Africans we are blessed to be in a stable democracy, with freedom of the press,” she said.
At Garlandale High School in Athlone, voters leisurely trickled in to cast their votes.
Voters spent less than an hour waiting, with many saying it was a seamless process with no incidents reported.
When asked why it was important to cast her vote, Garlandale resident Margo Simon, 54, said: “I’ve got three kids, what else can I say?”
Garlandale resident Carmen Johnson spent a mere 10 minutes in the queue.
“It was quick, it was easy. Everything is legible on the ballot paper.
“I thought about how the Western Cape is run and how other provinces are run, so I made a comparison. Mostly, I was considering unemployment and health care and also the infrastructure in the Western Cape,” she said.
In Woodstock, Vuyoluhle Jali, 20, couldn’t contain her excitement as she cast her vote for the first time. The first-year journalism student, who voted at the Woodstock Community Hall, said she was voting for change.
“I believe there are too many issues that need to change in this country. As a journalism student, I am very excited to be voting; this is quite an experience to see our democracy at work,” said Jali.
Lulama Mgijima, 47, who also voted at the Woodstock Community Hall, said she has voted many times, but this election meant a lot.
“I am voting to ensure that we put a new government in this country that will put the needs of the people first,” Mgijima said.
Voting at Gordon High School in the Helderberg with his 54-year-old spouse, 66-year-old Hedrik Fischer said he hoped for more work opportunities, especially for the younger generation.
Somerset West resident, Juandre Farmer, 34, who cast her vote for the first time, described the experience as “easy”.
She said that even though she’s unaffected by a lack of basic services, her vote will benefit everyone.
Voting for minor parties, according to Gordon's Bay residents Beverly Parsons, 51, and Anna Adams, 64, would not result in any change.
“All in all it was good. I voted for who I always voted for because voting for smaller parties to vote the ANC out is not going to help,” she said.
Cape Argus