Final year student queues for more than 10 hours to vote

Thandi Mabala, 25, a final year student, queued for more than 10 hours on Wednesday waiting for her turn to vote.

During the long hours, she studied, asked friends to get her snacks and sometime took pictures and videos of the scores of people who were lined up to vote at Municipal Swembad offices in Hatfield, Tshwane. 

She had not planned to spend so much time in the queue but seeing her peers braving out the cold weather and hunger, the University of Pretoria student persevered because of how much her vote meant to her. 

“What motivated me to stand there and in those conditions and not eating anything solid is that either of us was willing to give up so why should I?” she asked.

Explaining further, Mabala said it was important for her to vote because she wanted change.

“I believe we are all tired of poor service delivery. The state of the country is not appealing and all we want is change,” she said adding that she hoped that the next administration deals with high unemployment and ensure that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme funds more students without a fuss.

She arrived at the venue around 10am armed with her study notes.

“The turnout was amazing. When I got there it was bit cold and during the day the sun came out and it was warm but later on it started getting cold again. I even had to call my friends to bring a blanket and a jacket,” said the education student.

She added that she did not expect the line to be that long because it was not her first time casting her vote at the same venue and everything ran smoothly then.

“The IEC [Independent Electoral Commission] officials said nothing to us on Wednesday about the delays until they realised we were getting impatient. They then said they had a backlog because some students were not registered to vote from that station. Even when we told them that they were wrong, they then came and told us about their scanners that were not working,” she said.

Mabala said that while in line, she and other students kept themselves busy by studying. She finally cast her vote at 11pm.

“I was very happy and excited that I voted. I feel happy that I am a responsible citizen,” she said.