LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Voters were surprised when they arrived to vote at a voting station in Driekoppies, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday morning, only to find that it was closed.
They had registered at the Bongani Holiness Union Church, but the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chose another venue two blocks away for the actual voting process.
Unaware of the change, some voters returned home, but others, like Make Sibiya, made a point of finding out what had happened.
Sibiya drove around asking for help.
"My boy, please help me, I was going to vote at Bongani Holiness Church, but there are no people there. Can you help?" she asked a Sapa correspondent, who showed her the way.
An IEC official confirmed the new venue was at Emasontweni.
There are 92 voting stations in the wider Nkomazi area.
At Magewu primary school in nearby Sibayeni village, queues were long.
Presiding officer Shadrack Masilela said that in one hour, 160 people had voted.
Constable Senzeni Lubisi of the Tonga police station said no incidents had been reported at the voting station.
"I will be here until the voting station closes to keep the peace," she said.
Police and Tactical Response Team officers have been deployed to all voting stations.
Unlike at other voting stations in Nkomazi, no one wore political T-shirts at the Siboshwa tribal office voting station.
About 200 people had voted peacefully here within two hours.
At the entrance to the tribal office, Mozambican and local villagers sold vegetables and second hand clothing because Wednesdays and Thursdays are their usual market days.
Vendor Lizbeth Mbebe, 49, of Mangweni village was doing a brisk trade with her hot fatcakes.
"I will vote later today [Wednesday]. I wanted to do some business first as I am self employed," she said cheerfully.
She said she has an RDP house and that both her children got bursaries to study at tertiary level.
Although Mozambican vegetable vendor, Lucy Ndebe, 60, can't vote, she says she's looking forward to returning home in October to vote in the Mozambican national elections.
Fifteen-year-old Olga Mabuza of Mangweni village is too young to vote, but says she's looking forward to doing so when she turns 18 because she has seen her community benefiting from the democracy.
Source : Sapa /str/fg/jje
Date : 07 May 2014 10:55
They had registered at the Bongani Holiness Union Church, but the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chose another venue two blocks away for the actual voting process.
Unaware of the change, some voters returned home, but others, like Make Sibiya, made a point of finding out what had happened.
Sibiya drove around asking for help.
"My boy, please help me, I was going to vote at Bongani Holiness Church, but there are no people there. Can you help?" she asked a Sapa correspondent, who showed her the way.
An IEC official confirmed the new venue was at Emasontweni.
There are 92 voting stations in the wider Nkomazi area.
At Magewu primary school in nearby Sibayeni village, queues were long.
Presiding officer Shadrack Masilela said that in one hour, 160 people had voted.
Constable Senzeni Lubisi of the Tonga police station said no incidents had been reported at the voting station.
"I will be here until the voting station closes to keep the peace," she said.
Police and Tactical Response Team officers have been deployed to all voting stations.
Unlike at other voting stations in Nkomazi, no one wore political T-shirts at the Siboshwa tribal office voting station.
About 200 people had voted peacefully here within two hours.
At the entrance to the tribal office, Mozambican and local villagers sold vegetables and second hand clothing because Wednesdays and Thursdays are their usual market days.
Vendor Lizbeth Mbebe, 49, of Mangweni village was doing a brisk trade with her hot fatcakes.
"I will vote later today [Wednesday]. I wanted to do some business first as I am self employed," she said cheerfully.
She said she has an RDP house and that both her children got bursaries to study at tertiary level.
Although Mozambican vegetable vendor, Lucy Ndebe, 60, can't vote, she says she's looking forward to returning home in October to vote in the Mozambican national elections.
Fifteen-year-old Olga Mabuza of Mangweni village is too young to vote, but says she's looking forward to doing so when she turns 18 because she has seen her community benefiting from the democracy.
Source : Sapa /str/fg/jje
Date : 07 May 2014 10:55