Caiphus Rampe, a pensioner from Orchards ext 21 in Arcasia, Pretoria North, was excited after casting his vote this afternoon, which is the last day for special votes.
Rampe is one of those who applied for a special vote. Special votes took place on Monday and continue today for qualifying voters.
For Rampe, casting his vote means a lot, including preparing a better life for all, and a better life for generations to come.
Asked why he applied for special vote, Rampe said he did not want to stand in long queues as he quickly gets tired.
READ | Eastern Cape voting stations operational for special votes
“I am [old] and I don’t have energy to queue with the young ones. I wanted to do it early and get done with voting,” Rampe said.
Asked about the 1994 experience, where millions of voters -- who were previously denied access to voting -- took to the polls for the first time, Rampe said this year’s elections are crucial to deciding a future for all South Africans, regardless of race or colour.
“As South Africans, we are one and we should learn to live together. This is our country. We must work hard to build a better future for our children and the generations to come,” he said.
Echoing the same sentiments, was Ditaelo Ranwedi, also from Orchards, who emphasized the importance of voting.
“Voting is our voice to say what we want and how it must be done. By voting, we have the power to appoint our representatives in Parliament and in the municipalities to represent us and ensure that there is service delivery in our communities,” Ranwedi said.
Ranwedi called on young people and everybody else to go out in their numbers to vote.
“This is the only way we can tell our government what we want and how it must be done,” he said.
Presiding Officer at the Wonderpark voting station at the community hall, Karabo Mtshweni, told SAnews that the station had 140 registered special votes.
“Most of the registered special votes are young people who mostly said they will be working on Wednesday and some said they had other engagements,” Mtshweni said.
Mtshweni said 80% of the registered voters had already cast their votes.
“The turnout yesterday was good compared to today. Today is very slow. We hope towards closing time, there will be more people coming,” she said.
Voting stations for special votes operate from 9am to 5pm.
According to the Electoral Commission, on the first day of special votes on Monday, an estimated 201 794 voting station visits of special votes were processed at 22 626 service points.
The Commission said a total of 624 593 voters will be visited by 62 000 officials from the Electoral Commission, accompanied by political party agents and observers where they are available. – SAnews.gov.za
