Cape Town – For 91-year-old Joubert Coetzee,
neither the pouring rain nor his good age could stop him from making his mark yesterday.
At the Vera School for pupils with autism in Rondebosch East, Coetzee was helped up the stairs of the voting station for election staff to scan his ID, be issued with a voting number, have his registered name marked off, ballots issued and finally cast his votes.
Helped down the steps, Coetzee said: “I’m feeling fine, it is an exciting day. I always come here to this place, always vote for the same people. Since the first time for voting.”
When asked why he hadn’t made use of the special voting assistance, Coetzee said he and his wife were still young enough to make the short journey to the school for this important moment.
“Lets see what happens, it’s very interesting this time, we can’t wait to see the outcome,” he said.
DA party agent Tercia Stander said since the station opened at 7am, voting had gone smoothly. By 10.30am, about 100 people had cast their votes and one spoiled ballot had been reported.
“The parties are getting on well, we’re helping each other, Good Party gave us chairs, all the parties inside are conferring with one another.”
At Bokmakierie Primary School in Bokmakierie, Hazendal, presiding officer Shirreen Moses said a large number of people, including many elderly, had queued to vote before the station opened.
By 11am, about 300 people had voted, assisted by eight IEC officials, she said.
For some of the older voters, a sense of pride in being able to vote motivated them to brave the weather and get to the station, she said.
“We have a lot of elderly people that come in first and they get to be serviced first. They sometimes like to stroll over to the school and see what the atmosphere is like,” she said, adding that some had indicated that they were not aware they qualified for special votes.
Community activist Vincent
Baatjies said he had come to vote with the funeral of a 26-year-old killed in a shooting last week in mind.
The young man was among about eight people killed in the last two to three months in the area, according to Baatjies.
“I saw him grow up, being part of a soccer club, leaving the soccer club and becoming a gangster. I can never forget him.
“Last week, we buried him. He was shot twice - the first time he survived, now the second time, he didn’t make it. I hope its an eye-opener for our youth,” Baatjies said.
Youth employment would be a key factor in choosing which party to vote for, he said, as the flashy lifestyle of gangsterism appealed to young people.
“Our youth are going astray. If you don’t have work for your youth when they leave school, or something they can go to... if your parents don’t have money to go study, where will you end up? With the gangs.
“If something can be done for our youth, our community will change,” he said.