Pretoria – Voting is going smoothly as planned in Mabopane, Garankuwa and Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.
This after violence had erupted in the three townships last month in protests against the Tshwane Mayoral candidate Thoko Didiza.
The streets are calm and peaceful, people are seen flocking to voting stations to cast their votes. The police are monitoring the three townships closely.
In Mabopane, at the voting station in Unit X, the voters are still trickling in to cast their votes.
The Presiding Officer at the station, Betty Ramasodi, told SAnews that since the station opened this morning at 7am, no incidences of intimidation or violence were reported.
“Everything is going smoothly as planned,” she said.
At Mabopane and Garankuwa voting stations, the elderly were being assisted in the presence of party agents to cast their votes.
Police officers deployed at the stations told SAnews that since the stations opened this morning, they have not received any complaints.
“We only assisted people to queue during the voting process,” they said.
In the streets not far from the voting stations, lines of cars are parked next to the streets.
“I want my voice to be heard, my vote is my voice,” said a voter at a voting station in Mabopane Unit X.
Among those coming to cast their votes, young people are in the majority.
Samuel Pitse, 48, from the area (Unit X in Mabopane), told SAnews that he was voting for better service delivery in his community.
“We want better services in our community. We want potholes on our roads to be fixed,” he said.
First-time voter, Nkadimeng Mafethle told SAnews that he too wants better services in his community.
“As a young person, I also want my voice to be heard. I believe young people have the power to make things happen,” he said.
According to the IEC, there are more than 26 million registered voters on the national voters’ roll, more than 200 political parties and over 61 000 candidates participating in the country’s fifth Municipal Elections. - SAnews.gov.za
