Midvaal resident voted with a heavy heart
“I’ve been living here for 20 years and still there has been no change, but I will still vote,” said Midvaal resident Nthabiseng Mokona.
|||aMidvaal - Many voters who cast their ballots in the municipal elections on Wednesday did so with a heavy heart.
They spoke of how they still lived in squalor and basic municipal services were considered a luxury.
One such voter was Midvaal resident Nthabiseng Mokona.
“I’ve been living here for 20 years and still there has been no change, but I will still vote,” she said before casting her ballot at a Sicelo polling station on Wednesday.
The area has been rife with violent service delivery protests over the last few months with residents calling for an end to the DA's leadership in Midvaal, and some calling the ANC to take over.
Mokona has lived in Midvaal for most of her life and at 32, she is praying that these elections will bring about a better life for her and her family.
“It’s my right to vote and I hope that it will make difference, I want my children to have a better life and future.
“We need service delivery, running water, jobs, housing and electricity. We don’t even have proper toilets or sanitation, there is sewage running in the streets,” she said, the desperation audible in her voice.
“We really want electricity, that’s the main concern especially in this cold weather,” she said as the wind howled through the gaps in her shack.
Proper roads were needed in Sicelo because often in emergency situations ambulances were not able to get into the area, Mokona said.
“The problems here are serious. We need them to be fixed. The biggest thing we all want is a municipality that runs properly and that takes notice of its people,” she said.
“We want to see changes from the councillor who takes over this area and from the mayor.”
“I will vote today, I have to vote today,” she added.
As Independent Media made its way through extension four and five of Sicelo, an angry resident stopped us. “Do you see the dirt in this place? The children eat rubbish; people have to eat expired food because they are starving.”
We asked the man if he was going to vote.
“Yes, I will vote, I want a change here, the DA does nothing and the ANC lies to the people.”
He carried on speaking, but wouldn’t reveal his name.
“People don’t have jobs and they can’t make a living, it’s not right.”
Another resident, Clotis Makwa then joined the conversation.
“The ANC runs these extensions (four and five) but Midvaal is a DA run municipality.
“We want the whole municipality to be ANC run because then it will all be equal, the DA don’t do anything here because its ANC run,” he explained.
He said the only improvement had been street lights.
Makwa said he had voted because he felt it was his obligation.
“I don’t know if my vote will change anything but I don’t see any point not to vote,” he said.
Ilanit.chernick@inl.co.za
@Lanc_02
Elections Bureau