Voters rise early and flock to Nelson Mandela Bay voting stations

Thousands of Nelson Mandela Bay residents rushed to the polls early on Wednesday morning to cast their votes in the 2024 national elections.

For the most part it was smooth sailing, while in some areas votes had to be cast in the dark because of power outages.

At Ebongweni Primary School in Kwazakhele, voting was delayed as the voters’ roll had not arrived in time, and at Westering Primary, where voting started at 7am, the queue moved slowly as registered voters had to be checked manually while the system was down.

At Jarvis Gqamlana, also in New Brighton, voting was slightly delayed due to network issues which affected the operation of the voter management device, and presiding officer Sivuyile Hlungulwana said they had started using the manual voters’ roll.

Newton Park residents who arrived at the Herbert Hurd Primary School voting station from about 7am, carried takeaways coffees, books and crosswords to keep them busy, and settled in on camping chairs for a long wait.

Kleinskool residents voting at the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church described their experience as a quick “in-and-out”.

They agreed that the process had been smooth and efficient.

At the City Hall, residents posed for pictures with a life-size cardboard cut-out of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

First-time voter Keaton Browers, 18, a Sanctor High School pupil, was excited when he arrived early at Strelitzia Primary School in Bethelsdorp to make his mark.

He said he wanted to see municipalities being run efficiently.

“The government has failed us and now is the time to fix our country,” he said.

“We want to see job creation and that our environment is being taken care of.”

In KwaDwesi and Westville, voters stood in snaking queues as they waited their turn.

Despite earlier threats of violence, the atmosphere remained calm as residents exercised their democratic rights.

Zweledinga Nkayitshana, 54, who went to vote at Westering Primary School with his wife and two daughters, urged people to be patient.

He said that when he voted in 1994 no-one had complained about the long queues because they wanted change.

Nelia Scholtz took her daughter, Yucca, 9, to the Westbourne Oval to witness how voting is done.

“Being proudly South African, we wanted to show our daughter how the elections are done and we made our mark today. We are very proud,” Scholtz said.

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