Glitches fail to discourage resolute voters

There was chaos at a voting station in Thokoza, on the East Rand, when police fired rubber bullets at a group of frustrated and impatient voters who were trying to forcefully make their way into the voting station after hours of waiting in the queue that was not moving.

The voters had been waiting to be assisted for seven to eight hours when their impatience ran out.

One of the voters, Banele Khumalo, said he left the voting station without voting following the shooting incident.

He said he had stood about a kilometre away from the station in a queue that was not moving, and no one was explaining why. “I left at about 7pm and that's when people were becoming restless because it was getting dark,” he said.

“A group of people crowded the entrance out of impatience, and when officials were not giving satisfactory answers, people tried to enter forcefully. Police started firing rubber bullets and it was a mess, the station had to close. I never went back. It was too much work.”

Videos on social media coming from parts of KwaZulu-Natal also show people from different political parties queuing together, braving the cold weather.

Young people who came out in numbers to vote kept themselves awake throughout Wednesday night into Thursday morning singing iGwijo, a music genre usually heard at stadiums during sports days.

The University of Pretoria students sang at the top of their voices as they queued to cast their votes amid delays at their voting station.

At 4am on Thursday, scores of people, mainly students from the university, were still queuing after having been in the queue since Wednesday afternoon.

Ayanda Mashimbye, 20, who said she arrived at the station around 15.45pm on Wednesday afternoon, said she braved the cold for most of the night to vote at 4am on Thursday morning.

“For an hour the queue would go without moving, then for a few minutes it would move, then stop again. I was annoyed and hungry. My friend was kind enough to bring me a chair and something warm to wear,” she said.

“As I was waiting, I was disheartened but seeing that we had stuck it out together as students kept me going. Some students were singing iGwijo. That moment made me realise that I am not alone in this, we are together.”

As hours went by and the cold started to sink in, she said some students opted to leave. “Even after I left, there were many others behind me. I spotted someone standing where I started 12 hours ago.”

A video Mashimbye took shows the students also singing the national anthem, Nkosi'sekelela iAfrika, trying to keep their spirits up. Some were wearing blankets and jackets to protect themselves from the biting cold.

This was not the only voting station that saw people spend most of the night camping at a voting station. 

sibiyan@sowetan.co.za