Eager voters queue up at polling stations from as early as 5am

Voters got off to an early start across the province on Wednesday, with some enthusiastic South Africans already queued up at their voting stations in the Eastern Cape as early as 5am, two hours before stations officially opened.

Voting is taking place across the country between 7am and 9pm on Wednesday, with vote counting expected to resume immediately after that.

While there were some network challenges at voting stations in Mthatha, in Buffalo City Metro’s ward 24 the scanning machines were not working at the Prayer Life Family Church voting district.

The matter was reported to the IEC, according to an official at the station.

While more than 350 people were queuing outside the station, voting was on hold while authorities tried to address the challenge of the dysfunctional scanners.

Eastern Cape IEC electoral commissioner Kayakazi Magudumana said service delivery protests continued to affect voting in some parts of the province.

Magudumana said 32 stations across the province had opened a bit late because of these protests.

At 9am she said nine voting stations were yet to open, with Alfred Nzo accounting for five stations.

Magudumana said a voting station at the protest-prone Lower Zingcuka, Keiskammahoek, had not opened for the past two days of special voting.

She said IEC officials had found the station padlocked, but they had been able to break through and operate.

Magudumana said some stations experienced glitches for about five minutes.

By 5am at the Carnegie Community Hall in Gonubie, East London, two voters had already lined up, with 82-year-old Bernard Lindstrom and his wife Penny the first two in the queue, which had swollen to about 200 people 30 minutes later.

Reflecting on their early start to the day, Penny said: “When we got here before five there was no sign of life, but look at the line now.”

BCM DA ward 29 councillor Valerie Knoetze was one of the first to cast her vote at Gonubie Primary School.

Just after 6am, voters had also gathered at the nearby Mzamomhle Community Hall, also in Gonubie, where many taxi drivers were waiting to vote before heading to work. 

Many of them came through while IEC officials were still busy putting up voting station posters outside the community hall before the polling station opened.

The Gonubie Primary voting station was filled with the enticing aromas of fried eggs and bacon as Father’s Club members JP Bouic, Gideon Botha and Dewald Hazel cooked up breakfast buns for voters on the field to raise funds for the school.

A Sweetwaters resident in Qonce, Mandla Bobe, 53, was the second person to cast his vote at Fundisa Special School.

Bobe said he had worked the night shift and decided to come straight to the voting station when he knocked off.

Two elderly Sweetwaters residents, Zukiswa Yeki and Bulelwa Swaartbooi, were among the first people to cast their votes at Fundisa Special School. 

They woke up at 6am and slowly made their way to the voting booth.

Mthatha voter Sibusiso Mhlutwa was the first to cast his vote at the Mthatha Love Life Centre, moments after the station opened, while Khowa Bangani, 69, was the first to vote at the Mziwakhe Mkhokeli community hall in KwaTuba village in Kwelerha, outside East London, and had been in line since 6am.

Nwabisa Msiwa, 79, was happy to have cast her vote at St Mary’s AME church in Ngangelizwe in Mthatha. She has been voting since 1994.

Network issues had been reported in that Mthatha station, forcing a slow start to voting.

Lindile Siyengo at Mthatha Town Hall complained that the queue was moving very slowly due to a network problem.

Camagu Dwangu was the first person to arrive at the Free Church voting station In Ngangelizwe in Mthatha.

He arrived at 5.30am, but by 8am he still couldn’t cast his vote due to a network problem.

More than 100 voters had already queud up by 6am at the East London City Hall.

Sinegugu Matshicela, 22, who cast her vote for the first time, said she hoped for better healthcare services and improved resources at schools, particularly in rural areas.

Kobus and Stephanie Van Zyl were among the early birds to vote at the City Hall. 

The couple, hoping for a more unified country, decided to arrive as early as possible because they believed their voices mattered.

At the City Hall, voters were greeted with lively chants, and some even showed up in full regalia, adding a colourful touch to the voting experience.

At Buffalo City College in East London, dozens of people arrived to cast their votes as early as 6am.

Among them was Mzolisa Mpini, a 69-year-old man who emphasised the importance of the next leadership rectifying past mistakes.

Mpini stressed the need for increased service delivery, tackling corruption, ending load-shedding and ensuring access to basic necessities.

Award-winning sports activist Thoko Mlonyeni, 65, was among dozens of voters who cast their votes at Buffalo City College.

Mlonyeni expressed the hope that her vote would contribute to the development of sport in rural areas, townships and schools, with the expectation that facilities would be improved.

In the Beacon Bay township of Nompumelelo, ANC and MK supporters were seen playing music and dancing together outside the Sakikamva High School voting station.

In Chintsa, resident Barry Angelbeck said he was “voting for change irrespective of who is in power” at African Angels Independent School in Taunton near Chintsa.

The 59-year-old said crime in the country was too high and roads needed to be improved.

First-time voter Nathan Botha, 22, said he was hoping for more job opportunities for young people after casting his vote at the Chintsa Country Club.

Residents at NU 13 Mdantsane also woke up early to cast their votes at Nowonga Primary School. The line was long as early as 6am.

The queue at Manyano Junior Primary School was long from 6.30am, with residents of NU 17 in Mdantsane coming in their numbers to vote

Nombulelo Nqeketho, 66, from NU 17 Mdantsane, said she hoped the high rate of violence against women and children would decrease, there would be jobs for young people and service delivery would improve.

Meanwhile, by 10am, it was a quiet morning at the N.U 1 Community Hall in Mdantsane, as residents were slowly trickling in to cast their votes.

The IEC officials at the station said they were expecting people to come in their big numbers, as the unit is one of the biggest in the township.

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