WESTONARIA- A few residents of the westernmost Thusang Informal Settlement threatened to abstain from voting in 2024.
Residents of the informal settlement expressed their displeasure with the electoral process to Eyewitness News.
In advance of the 2024 general elections, Sunday was the second day of nationwide voter registration.
The residents claimed that the democratically elected government had let them down and accused officials of abusing their power to make quick money.
The closest school is a long walk from home, there is no electricity in this area, and the taps are frequently dry.
The area’s lack of socioeconomic development, according to Marcus Mahlophe, who has lived there for more than 20 years, is akin to betrayal.
He claims that he only participated in the 1994 elections and declines to cast a ballot in 2024.
Elder Marcus Mahlophe only cast a ballot in 1994 and has vowed never to cast another ballot. He is an elder at the Thusang informal settlement in the Westonaria mining region. He claims that the material state of the community lacks confidence. @khanya_mntambo pic #SAelections24. twitter.com/fUqt3fkrOg
November 19, 2023, EWN Reporter ( @ewnreporter )
There were only a little over 60 new registrations this weekend, according to Electoral Commission ( IEC ) officials at the voter registration center in Thusang.
Young potential voters made up half of them.
An IEC official claims that this is higher than the previous cycle, despite the fact that it seems like a very small number.