In photos: South Africans vote to shape the future of their municipalities

There were long lines on Wednesday morning as people gathered to vote at the Hospital Hills settlement near Lenasia South in Johannesburg. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Millions of people across the country exercised their right to vote in the Local Government Elections on Wednesday. Those we spoke to said it was important to them who would run their municipality for the next five years, as they would decide on critical issues like water, electricity, roads, housing and crime.

We also met people who said they were discouraged about voting because of poor service delivery in their communities.

President Cyril Ramaphosa cast his vote in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Hyde Park. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Johannesburg

At all the voting stations we visited, voters and party agents praised how the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has been running the elections.

Ward 58, which includes Fordsburg, Fietas, Mayfair and Crosby, relies on water from the strained Commando System, where residents have been facing prolonged water outages with little relief.

The ANC won the ward in 2021, with Rickey Kashore Nair receiving around 49% of the vote. Nair is standing for re-election against 53 other candidates.

Some residents told us that water issues in the area were inclining them to vote for a different candidate.

While GroundUp was taking photos on the pavement outside the Crosby Primary School, a woman from the ANC tent accosted and threatened our reporter and accused them of being an opposition agent. The altercation ended after police intervened.

Brixton resident Zine Hlanze said, “Water issues have been going on for way too long … Our roads are also so bad. These are things the government should be getting right”.

Ward 87 includes the student hubs of Auckland Park, Melville, Parkview and Greenside. It is a DA stronghold, where Kyle Jacobs received over 71% of the vote.

These areas too have been beset with water challenges, which was often a reason residents said they felt motivated to vote.

At Hope Church in Auckland Park, voters came out in numbers.

A broken water pipe in ward 69. In this area, residents say that water issues are top of mind when casting their vote. Photo: Seth Thorne

Cooper Anderson said that he is fortunate enough to have a backup supply for water and private security. He said that he is voting on behalf of those who cannot afford this. Photo: Seth Thorne

Toddler Nthabeleng Tshabalala with her mother Marriem Mokhele at the Hospital Hills settlement near Lenasia South in Johannesburg. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Funzani Likhanya arrived in his wheelchair and waited in line to cast his ballot at the Hospital Hills settlement near Lenasia South in Johannesburg. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Ekurhuleni

In Ekurhuleni we visited voting stations at Phulong Secondary School in ward 77 and Nkabinde Primary School in ward 79, Kwathema. At both voting stations EFF, ANC, PA and MK political party representatives were sitting in their gazebos wearing their party regalia.

There were long queues at both polling stations.

Portia Nyakale from ward 79 said her community had no streetlights and crime was high. Nyakale said she wants youth in the area to get access to skills programmes and jobs.

Noxolo Skosana, who relies on the R370 SRD grant, said, “I voted today because I want to see a South Africa where all young people are able to find jobs.”

There were long queues at the voting station at Nkabinde Primary School in ward 79, Kwathema. Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro

People queued for water from a tanker in an open field near Sihluziwe Primary School, which was used as a voting station. Resident Betty Mabena said it was difficult for her to stand in the long queue to fetch water and go to the voting station to vote. “I was reluctant to vote because we don’t have drinking water,” said an Ekangala resident after casting her vote. Photo: Warren Mabona

The Bronkhorstspruit water crisis was the subject of many voters’ conversations at voting stations in Ekangala township on Wednesday.

Many residents GroundUp spoke to shortly after casting their votes said they had been reluctant to vote. Other people outside voting stations said they would not vote, mainly because there was no drinking water in their taps and water tankers sent by the City of Tshwane were insufficient.

Vusi Mhlongo told GroundUp he had decided not to vote due to the water crisis and a lack of jobs.

“If I vote, my vote will not bring me safe drinking water tomorrow or next week … Life is tough for me and my family. I’m a bricklayer with a certificate, but I have been unemployed for more than two years. I depend on social grants and they are not enough,” he said.

Cape Town

Western Cape provincial electoral officer Michael Hendrickse gave an update on the election on Wednesday afternoon at the provincial IEC results centre.

Hendrickse said some of the voter management devices went offline on Wednesday morning, when polling opened. “These issues were resolved as of now; there were no problems with the devices,” he said.

By 12:30pm, more than 800,000 people had been issued with ballot papers in the province, with over 500,000 of these in the metro, said Hendrickse.

“Voters are also assured that if they are in the queue at 9pm this evening, they will still be assisted to cast their ballots,” he said.

Dozens of people queue to vote at St. Mary’s Primary. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Dozens of people queued outside Chapel Street Primary in Woodstock, to cast their vote in ward 92, which is held by a DA councillor.

Barrington Warley, who was born in District 6 and has lived in Woodstock for 46 years, said, “Voting is very important … especially if you consider there were years where you had no voice. If you’ve got it now, and you look at the amount of sacrifices people made to get you to this point, I think you’d be an idiot not to vote.”

The presiding IEC officer, Azrah Bassier, said they had seen a “massive turnout” in the morning, more than was anticipated.

“We were not expecting lines. People want change in the country. People want change in their cities, so maybe that’s why,” she said.

Dozens of people queued outside a busy voting station in the Bo-Kaap at Schotsche Kloof Primary School in ward 77.

Chumile Samson, Bo-Kaap resident and spokesperson for civil society organisation South African Youth Council (Western Cape), said that political parties are often “singing the same song” about reducing unemployment and poverty. “But for the longest time we haven’t seen a lot of change. Young people have felt their vote doesn’t count. The reality is the opposite. We need young people to be active,” he said.

Barrington Warley and his wife, Merle Warley, who have lived in Woodstock for 46 years, voted at Chapel Street Primary. Photo Liezl Human

People vote at Schotsche Kloof Primary in the Bo-Kaap in ward 77. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Residents of Phumlani informal settlement protested on Old Faure Road in Mfuleni, refusing to vote because they say their pleas for basic services have been ignored for years. Photo: Vincent Lali

In Mfuleni, about 100 residents of Phumlani and Covid informal settlements protested on Old Faure Road. Community leader Bathandwa Gali said residents would not vote because the government had failed to respond to their pleas for basic services.

“We’ve been here for six years … marching to the Civic Centre to handover a memorandum for basic services, and they don’t come or respond to us, so we said we’re not going to vote.

“Our people relieve themselves on N2 and R300, and we don’t have water. We’ve had enough,” he said.

Ntombekhaya Njeza, 75, outside a polling station on Mnandi Street in Dunoon. She lives in a shack in West Beach 2 informal settlement, where she says rodents nibble residents’ feet at night and eat their groceries. She hopes the incoming ward councillor will help arrange pest control. Photo: Peter Luhanga

Darleen Matthews voted at Athlone High School. She said the process took less than 20 minutes. She said her family has voted in every election since 1994. Matthews worries most about the high cost of electricity. Most of her disability grant goes to electricity, she says. “But it doesn’t cover the month.” Photo: Marecia Damons

Outside the Athlone Community Centre, Julian Lakay was waiting for his wife to vote. He had voted earlier at Bokmakierie Primary School. Lakay has lived in Athlone for over 50 years. He said he had witnessed “crime become worse” and was “hoping for change”.

At Maitland High School, there were no queues. People took less than ten minutes to vote.

Oscar Sifumba, 26, said, “I felt that it was my civic duty to vote. A few things need to change. For example, the area is becoming unsafe. The roads and parks are also not up to standard. Those need to improve.”

People voting at Edgemead Primary School in the northern suburbs. Residents we spoke to said the process was smooth. Photo: Matthew Hirsch

The line at Cecil Road went around the block before 7am as residents lined up to vote. Residents GroundUp spoke to say their main concerns were affordable housing and the rising cost of living. Photo: Matthew Hirsch

Christopher Mufamadi, an IEC official at the Mowbray Town Hall voting station, said the voting process had been smooth throughout the morning. He said 200 people had voted, including a few first-time voters by noon. Some voters told GroundUp that the queue at the polling site was much longer during national elections. Photo: Alice Scott

In ward 57, which includes Mowbray, Rosebank, Rondebosch, most voters we spoke to expressed general satisfaction with the area’s governance, though some noted concerns regarding safety, homelessness and drug use.

In addition to petty crime, UCT Professor Jessica Opie said drug use had become a concern. “We often find people with intravenous injection syringes,” Opie said.

Zolile Zwane, a Rosebank resident who works in finance, said he thinks the ward is well looked after and one of the nicer areas in Cape Town. He said road repairs are often prompt and issues with water are addressed quickly.

However, other residents nearby the voting site elected not to vote at all.

Zwivhuya Mudau, a UCT student, said he wasn’t impressed by any of the parties. He said the DA was focused on developing Cape Town as a tourist destination rather than prioritising residents, but he also felt the ANC would not deliver on its promises.

People wait outside the voting station in ward 70 in Chatsworth. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko

People wait in line outside Durban City Hall voting station by 9am on Wednesday. Photo: Joseph Bracken

Durban

In Durban, we visted several voting stations. In ward 74 at Gijima Primary School in Lamontville there were about 70 voters in the queue when we arrived. In Chatsworth, voters queued patiently at Clenview Primary School.

Victor Govender said, “We have so many problems, including drugs and crime, and many people are not working.”

At the City Hall (in ward 27) voting was halted at 10:30am for about half an hour. IEC officials at the polling station said they could not comment.

Mpendulo Zondi, who had arrived earlier at 10am, said that the whole process took him less than five minutes.

Zondi, who works for the government, told GroundUp that he hopes that residents make the effort to know who their ward councillors are so that there can be better engagement between community members and the municipality in the future.

Lina Ntontela, who recently graduated with a degree in logistics, said she arrived at her ward 32 voting station at Durban Music School around midday and was done in 45 minutes.

The queue at a ward 32 voting station at Durban Music School. Photo: Joseph Bracken

There was no line outside Phila Combined Primary School in ward 81, Umlazi, at around 1:30pm. Only about ten voters were inside.

Mfanufikile Radebe, a street vendor in Umlazi, said that he was hoping to see improvements to water infrastructure in his area.

“We used to get water between 12pm and 4pm, then the system changed to only a couple hours in the morning.”

Radebe, who brought his daughter with him to the voting station, said he also hopes for a lower crime rate and a safer community for his children.

Makhado, Limpopo

In ward 7 of the Makhado Municipality, people started lining up outside the voting station at Masedi Primary School from 6:30am.

By 7am there were nearly 100 people. They had organised themselves into two groups: the elderly on one side and younger people on the other. The first batch of voters entered the voting station at 7:25am.

Political parties had set up gazebos and were playing music, mostly political songs, about 100 metres from the polling station.

Siphelele Sibula, who was chatting to a friend outside, said he would not be voting.

“I have been voting, but I do not see any change in service delivery in Tshikota. We need water and sewage problems to be addressed as soon as we report them to the municipality,” he said.

Jerry Mathonsi arrived at 6:30am. He said he wanted a change in service delivery in Tshikota, particularly water.

“Residents’ taps have been dry for almost 20 years. Year in and year out, I have been voting ANC but nothing has changed,” he said.

People voting in ward 7 in Tshikota, Limpopo Photo: Bernard Chiguvare

At the Ngcobo Town Hall voting station, some voters were unable to vote due to network issues. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Two members of the newly formed Ngcobo Yethu Civic Organisation (NYCO) were released on bail on Wednesday after allegedly collecting voting material from Ngcobo Police Station, claiming they had been sent by an IEC presiding officer.

Anne Nyamakazi, 61, a NYCO proportional representation candidate, and Qondisa Vinkqishe, 57, a teacher, were arrested on Tuesday and appeared briefly in the Ngcobo Magistrate’s Court that same day.

In June, hundreds of NYCO members marched to the municipal offices in support of municipal workers staging a sit-in over unpaid tax and pension contributions.

In August, the organisation shut down Ngcobo for several days, with trucks blocking the R61, demanding the removal of municipal manager Khathutshelo Mulaudzi. On 17 August, Mulaudzi was placed on precautionary suspension pending an investigation into allegations of mismanagement.

Lonwabo Delihlazo, a NYCO leader, said the organisation took the allegations seriously, but maintained that the women had acted in their individual capacities and had not been sent by the party. He said the party would conduct an internal investigation.

Nyamakazi and Vinkqishe were released on R1,500 bail and are expected to return to court on 26 November.

The organisation is contesting municipal elections in Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality, where residents have held several service delivery protests.

On voting day, it was business as usual in Ngcobo. At the voting station at the Ngcobo Town Hall, network problems resulted in some voters leaving without casting their ballots.

First time voter Aqhama Sibengile from KwaNobuhle township in Kariega, ward 43, voted despite the hot weather.

Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape

First time voter Aqhama Sibengile, 21, from KwaNobuhle township in Kariega, ward 43, voted despite the hot weather. There were no queues.

People came on foot, others in vehicles and some brought umbrellas. Sibengile said he was excited to vote. He hopes for more jobs and less crime in South Africa.

Mango Mokhele from JB Mafora in Bloemfontein was turned away from his voting station for wearing a party t-shirt, which is prohibited inside a voting station. “IEC officials said party T-shirts, caps and other party colours are not allowed inside a voting station. I am not a party agent, I was not campaigning, I just went there to vote not to cause trouble,” said Mokhele. Photo: Becker Semela

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