Thousands of South Africans cast their votes in London
On Wednesday a huge crowd of passionate South Africans queued in London from dawn until well after dark to have their say in the future of their country. However, a glitch in the overseas registration process meant disappointment for several expats who had followed the correct procedure yet their names mysteriously did not appear on the voters roll so were unable to vote in SA’s national election.
Overseas voting wrapped up on Thursday with no major incidents reported, said the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), with the polling station in Los Angeles the last to close its doors.
In London’s Trafalgar Square, thousands of South Africans queued for hours in the sun to vote at the busiest overseas voting station on Wednesday.
A total of 6,726 votes were cast in London, according to the SA High Commission. There were approximately 26,000 registered overseas voters.
A number of expats came from far and wide, including Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds, to take part in the election. John Versfeld was first in line to cast his vote, having travelled down from Manchester on Tuesday night. By 7.30am the queue stretched across the road in front of the National Gallery but the mood was festive as voters waited patiently. Free copies of The South African provided welcome reading matter, while the crowd was entertained and tortured in turns by various buskers in the famous public square.
Some enterprising souls even set up a mobile stall selling boerie rolls, biltong and Creme Soda – until the police asked them to leave as it appeared they didn’t have the appropriate vending licence.
Members of the ANC and DA took the opportunity to do some last minute campaigning. The ANC handed out t-shirts displaying Jacob Zuma’s face whereas the DA had chosen to spend its money on personal calls and reminder texts to expat voters during the previous day.
Many voters waited more than three hours to mark their ballots but most were upbeat to have been given the opportunity, reporting a mainly smooth operation inside the embassy.
However, a glitch in the overseas voter registration process meant disappointment for several voters who had followed the correct procedure, including confirming their VEC10 form had been accepted, yet their names mysteriously did not appear on the voters roll so were unable to vote.
Some of these problems were resolved with the assistance of IEC staff and Vote Home volunteers but all the rest could do was fill in an appeal form, will the IEC promising to look into the matter.
It was said that one woman had to be forcibly removed from SA House because she became violently angry at being unable to vote at the last moment.
Another issue was that, although parents with young children were given preference in the queue, lots of them still had to wait an uncomfortably long time. Neil Humby, who travelled from Buckinghamshire to vote, commented, “I’m upset that many of the parents and babies had to queue in the sun for as long as voters without babies, some of them apparently got ill from it. It’s appalling.”
Although the line shortened as the evening wore on, voters continued to queue long after dark. London’s voting station officially closed at 9pm but those still waiting to vote at that time were still given the opportunity to vote.
The ballots are now being couriered in secure bags to Election House in Centurion where they will be checked against the names of those who registered to vote abroad. These ballot papers will then be set aside in ballot boxes and securely stored until local voting stations close and the counting of all ballot papers starts on Election Day on 7 May.
The exact number of South Africans who voted at the 116 missions abroad will thus only be known after the 7 May election ballots are counted.
See a gallery of photos from the day here
Below: the emotional reaction of one of the aspirant voters who was unable to vote in London: