Pensioners in Primrose and Dawn View vote early with one demand: water
Residents in the two Ekurhuleni areas say they have gone more than 50 days without access to water, and they are carrying that into the ballot box.
Pensioners in Primrose and Dawn View in Ekurhuleni voted early on Monday, and they arrived with a complaint that has outlasted the campaign: they cannot get water.
Special voting opened for more than two million South Africans granted permission to cast their ballots ahead of Wednesday, a group that includes the elderly and the people who will be working on election day itself. eNCA (YouTube) reported from the queues as they formed.
The water problems in the two areas are not a single interruption. Residents described an intermittent supply and, in some cases, more than 50 days without provision or access to water, according to the broadcast. Older residents with back problems are going out to fetch buckets of water to get through the day.
That is the condition they took to the polls. The pensioners told eNCA that the water situation is among the things that will influence their vote, and that they intend to support whichever party they believe will change it and restore their access to water.
Special voting continues ahead of Wednesday, when the rest of the electorate votes.
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