LEBOGANG SEALE
Using a walking frame, granny Grace Sithole, 77, wobbled into the voting hall – completing the 25m-long journey between the car and the hall in 15 minutes.
Gogo Sithole voted from home last time because, as an elderly person, she qualifies to cast a special vote. She wanted to do the same in this election.
But when no IEC officials visited her on Monday or Tuesday, she ordered her grandchildren to drive her to the voting station.
“What are we still waiting for? Why are we not getting in?” she asked as her relatives exchanged a few pleasantries with IEC officials at the entrance of the Orlando West High School polling station.
Sithole, from Phefeni, has never missed voting in an election since the 1994 general election, and yesterday was no exception.
Sithole’s face glowed as she was taken through the voting process. She feels compelled to vote to honour her son, who died in exile after fleeing the country in the wake of the 1976 student uprising.
“My child fled the country because he was fighting for freedom. Every time I vote I feel like I am respecting him,” she said.
“When you don’t vote, there’s something wrong with you. Today we have clinics near our homes. So I must keep voting for the government to do more for my grandchildren when I am dead.”