- Cape Town families are hoping their vote will bring about change.
- Communities are plagued by drugs, unemployment, gangsterism and crime.
- Load shedding is also uppermost in the minds of voters.
For the Jacobs family in Mitchells Plain, there is very little to celebrate after 30 years of democracy.
This time, however, they are eagerly heading to the polls, to make sure they vote for change.
Lauren Jacobs, 31, a mother of two, believes voting on Wednesday will be a turning point in democracy.
She hopes her vote will bring about the much-awaited change the country needs.
“Voting seems to be the only way we can change the way middle class and poor people live. I’m voting because I believe this country can be great if we are led by the right leaders, who actually care about the people they govern,” Jacobs said.
Mitchells Plain is one of the many areas on the Cape Flats plagued by drugs, unemployment and gangsterism.
“Is this what 30 years of democracy is all about? A life of crime, surrounded by criminals who think nothing of attacking people,” asked Jacobs.
The park where children do not play at due to the ongoing crime in the area.
Lisalee Solomons / News24
She said Mitchells Plain was not what she had envisioned it to be when she cast her first democratic vote so many years ago.
“What exactly has changed? As I see it, life has gotten so much worse and harder. I’m going to vote on Wednesday, with the burning hope that things will get better for everyone in the country,” said Jacobs.
She said the lack of basic service delivery had declined as rapidly as crime had increased. In addition, they “almost never [have] electricity”.
The Jacobs family was one of the first beneficiaries of the 2013 Cape Town Community Housing project in Harmony Village.
“If we look back 30 years ago, the crime rate wasn’t as horrific as it is now. Load shedding wasn’t even a factor many years ago. We never had to worry about children getting hit by stray bullets and people getting kidnapped in broad daylight.”
Down the street from the Jacobs family, a group of youngsters sit on the street corner, smoking marijuana.
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“That’s what they do every day,” she said.
One of the young men said he chose to drop out of school – and now spent his days “hustling for money”.
“It’s better than being in a classroom with nagging teachers and students, who are just there to please their parents. I don’t roll like that, I want to earn money,” he said.
And he is not going to vote, “not a fok [fuck]”, he bluntly exclaimed.
In Hanover Park, Aziza Rodriques, 47, said she was tired of living in an area plagued by gang shootings and bodies scattered across the streets, especially during load shedding.
She blamed the current ruling party for “not giving a damn” about the impact of load shedding on poor communities.
“If they cared, there wouldn’t be a thing as load shedding. We have been dealing with this shit for a very long time and no one is happy about it, yet the ruling party doesn’t seem to care,” Rodriques said.
“We all long for a better life. I’m going to vote with a positive mindset that, when I cast my vote, change will come. It has to come… we can’t be living in such a cruel world, where no one cares. It’s not okay.
“Change starts with ourselves, and I believe that my vote will bring a change to our daily struggles.”
For Skhumbuzo Sithonga, a 32-year-old father of one, in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, voting will be to ensure change in his neighbourhood.
“I will vote. I still hope South Africa can become a better country, if we, as citizens, dedicate ourselves to making the change,” he said.
Sithonga said change started with small actions, like not littering, not leaving the tap running, and switching off lights when not in use.Sithonga’s younger sister, Sinazo September, said she was voting, but she had little hope that it would lead to change.
Parts of the area have become a dumping ground by residents.
Lisalee Solomons / News24
Dirt dumped in parts of Harmony Village, Mitchells Plain.
Lisalee Solomons / News24
The 22-year-old UCT law graduate will vote for the first time, but is not excited.
“I was born in poverty and, despite working hard to improve my life, I still live in poverty,” she said.
“I passed matric with good marks, despite my home conditions, and I got accepted into a top institution. But now I sit at home with my cum laude qualification in the shack I was born in,” she said.
Their mother, Noxolo Sithonga, however, said she would not be voting, citing a lack of change in their situation over the past 30 years.
She said crime and unemployment were significant problems in Khayelitsha.
She said the party she once had faith in was advocating for open borders, despite South Africa’s ongoing challenges.
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