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Millions of South Africans of all ages, as long as they were eligible to vote, flocked to the voting stations to cast their votes, unfazed by long queues and the cold weather, with determination to make their voices heard. The 2024 elections marked a historic milestone in South Africa. These elections are seen as the most important and contested since 1994.
On 29 May 2024, the day of the vote, people from different sections of Thokoza, East of Johannesburg, also queued for hours to make their choices, as did other South Africans countrywide. The voting started smoothly in the morning with no mishaps taking place. The vote to decide the parties that will form the seventh parliament since the dawn of democracy in Mzansi saw a huge number of youths participating, with first-time voters in Thokoza eager to make their mark as early as 7 AM. Some young women even brought their small children along to mark this historical moment.
Despite efforts by electoral officers and security personnel to ensure a smooth voting process, elections in Thokoza faced many challenges including violence, intimidation and damage to property, which resulted in injuries and trauma to many voters.
The first problem of the day arose after a large number of voters were turned away from voting, due to Section 24 (a) Electoral Amendment, which says a voter may nominate a voting station outside of their Voting District only if they notified the Electorate Commission of South Africa in advance. This issue caused challenges as many voters claimed they’d voted outside their registered districts before.
“The new changes were not communicated clearly, this really deprived me of my right to vote,” said Masibonge Nodada, who was turned away.
Before midday, queues were moving slowly, with IEC officials having problems with the new device that was introduced to make the process of voting go faster. This issue caused people to wait for up to five hours in queues, “I arrived at Mohlodi Primary School around 10 AM and I only voted around 2 PM,” said Thando Mkhwanazi .
As the 9 PM cut-off time approached, a lot of people were still in queues waiting to cast their votes, some of them had been waiting for more than five hours. The Fire Station voting district ward 52 in Thokoza closed at 9 PM, despite information saying people who were already in the queues should be allowed to vote even after 9 PM. This decision caused panic and frustration, “People started chanting and banging windows out of fear of not voting even after waiting for so long,” explained Nolubabalo Nzima.
Post elections has been an even greater disappointment, allegations of electoral fraud have now surfaced during the counting of ballots. Observers and party agents reported several issues, including ballot boxes being tampered with and unauthorised people accessing the ballots. Although the IEC has promised to do a thorough investigation into the matter, the integrity of these elections is now tarnished.
The incidents in Thokoza serve as a harsh reminder of the challenges that South Africa faces in its democratic journey. As the country reflects on the 2024 elections, it is important to address these issues and work towards creating an easier, safer, and more transparent voting environment.
This article was submitted on 03 June 2024. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
