Over 1 200 South Africans cast ballots at three polling stations in the United States, well below the more than 4 200 eligible voters in the national poll in that country.
635 ballots were cast in New York, far less than the 1 700 expected in the Big Apple. Only 226 votes were cast in Los Angeles while Washington D.C. issued more than 400 ballots.
Voters traveled from all over the region to vote at the IEC polling station in the South African Consulate in Manhattan.
Turnout was very low compared to London or The Hague where voters had to queue for hours to cast ballots. Not so in New York where a steady clip arrived throughout the course of the 14-hour voting day on Saturday.
Los Angeles and Washington D.C. also saw fewer voters than expected.
the mood was jubilant, with many arriving in national colours, and posting on social media, while several voters traveled thousands of kilometers to vote in New York including from the Dominican Republic; many recognizing the vote’s significance in the South African context.
But as SABC News’ Sherwin Bryce-Pease reports, top of mind for many South Africans was the NHI Bill signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa this week, good governance, crime, corruption and load-shedding.
Correspondent Sherwin Bryce-Pease spoke to voters who have just cast their ballots at the South African Consulate General in midtown Manhattan.
SA voter Isabella van der Reede says, “If I don’t vote, then what say, do I have? And what better hope is there for the future?”
She adds, “We need to just come together and think of better opportunities for the future. So voting is one of the ways to do that. Everybody’s got their own belief. And everybody at home needs to choose which one is the better one for them.”
Another SA voter Fabian Pietersen explains why he is voting. “I came out today because I think it is my responsibility as a South African that lives abroad and having been outside of South Africa for about 25 years now, you know, it is quite important to understand, you know, that every… you can’t just talk about issues unless you do something about it. This is your opportunity to do something about it. So, and the issues, obviously we are relatively a young democracy. That’s how I look at it. And most of my international friends are always reminding me that how young our democracy is and yes, we have a lot of issues, but I think having issues or tackling things like this on days like today is a good step in the right direction.”
“I came out today because I did come to America yes for opportunity and stuff, but my main goal is I’m always going back home. And so in me going back home, I would like to have a voice and a say in what I’m going back and the issues that I’m going back to. So I need to have a country that I believe can go forward and move forward. And having my voice and coming out to voice to vote is signifying that,” argues Samukelisiwe Gumede.
Paul Johnson, who is running an event for the International Women’s Forum, says South Africans had to vote. “We need new leadership. Bottom line. So hopefully, if we all pull together and make an attempt to vote, we can change our government to a point that we can look forward to better things.”
SA voter living in the Dominican Republic, Victoria de Bruin says. “We don’t have a South African embassy in the Dominican Republic. Our choices were either Jamaica or Cuba. So you figured New York would be a better option, having been to the Big Apple in a long time. So good to visit. I’d like to see change. Safety, security, electricity I think. These are the usual concerns that everybody has. So we’d like to have those the change come for that.”
“I live in Boston. I’ve been in America for the last five years. So this is the first selection that, I’m doing here, and I just thought it was important to vote because I think this is a really important election. With load shedding, with corruption, with everything that’s going on. I think it’s a really important moment for us historically, probably the most important since 1994. And I thought it was worth the travel, even though New York is really expensive,” adds Nick Kolev.
