Voters pick town rulers

2006-03-01 09:51

Johannesburg - Threats of floods, rain and power cuts failed to deter South Africans on Wednesday to vote for those who will charge them their rates, clean their streets, and remove the rubbish.

Early morning Pretoria voter President Thabo Mbeki - who arrived before his voting station opened at 07:00 - said everyone in the country needed to understand the importance of local government.

"I hope that all our people, all 21 million (registered voters), will come out to vote because we need a very strong and legitimate local government."

After days of rains across the country, Mbeki, leader of the ruling African National Congress, observed:

"We cannot, because it rained on March 1, not vote for a local government that will be in power for the next five years."

Western Cape

In the Western Cape, forecasts of rain and rolling electricity blackouts appeared to have got voters in Cape Town's sprawling northern suburbs out of bed early.

A cool election day was forecast for the metropole, overcast with a high of 20°C and an 80% chance of rain by late afternoon.

One of the first to vote in the Durbanville suburb, Brian Bailey, told Sapa he had got up early because of the rain forecast for the city later in the day.

Khutsong

In volatile Khutsong, where residents have vowed not to vote in protest against the incorporation of Merafong municipality into North West Province from Gauteng, about a dozen residents from extension three bucked the trend in the township by queuing to vote.

In the past month, a number of councillors' houses have been razed in the protest over the provincial demarcation issue.

A Merafong municipality security van was set alight overnight by a band of youths and there were also sporadic incidents of tyre burning.

Matatiele

In Matatiele, residents voiced mixed reactions to the town's transfer from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape, which became official at midnight.

"I would say I don't have a problem with the Eastern Cape or KwaZulu-Natal because we are all in South Africa," said Alson Hlasa, as he waited to cast his vote at the town hall.

"We are not in Zimbabwe, or whatever."

However, Lulama Ntshayisa, a few places back in the queue, was going to vote for the African Independent Congress (AIC), the political party formed to oppose the transfer.

"I'm fighting that this stays KwaZulu-Natal," he said.

Tony Leon

Another early voter was Tony Leon, leader of the Democratic Alliance, who cast his ballot at Kirstenbosch, in Cape Town.

He hoped the DA would increase its representation countrywide.

"I think we are going to do better than in 2004," he told reporters.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille cast her ballot in Pinelands, Cape Town, predicting her party would boost its 2% national representation to 5% in local government elections.

She also said the ID would hold the balance of power in the Cape Town metro council, which is a close contest between the ANC and the DA.

- SAPA