The ANC was left fretting Monday night about low turnout in its strongholds in Gauteng, including Soweto, as anecdotal survey of polling stations and early data showed a steep decline in the number of voters that came out in key areas.
Some voting stations in Gauteng were empty for most of the day on Monday while in some areas voters arrived in dribs and drabs in the afternoon. By 6pm, just three hours before the closure of the voting stations, national voter turnout was at 26%, with North West and Mpumalanga provinces lagging behind at 23% each, according to data released by the IEC.
The Eastern Cape was at 24% with Limpopo at 26% while the remaining four province were around 27%. At Babinaphuthi Senior Secondary School in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, the voting station saw an average of around two voters per hour.
When Sowetan visited the station around 11.30am, the school was empty. According to Mpho Makinta, one of the party agents at the polling station, only six voters had cast their votes in four hours since the station opened.
At 6pm, only about 20 people had cast their votes, he said. “We are shocked by the voter turnout, we were expecting a lot of people. I have never seen something like this in the history of voting,” said Makinta.At Silindokuhle Primary School in Etwatwa near Daveyton in Ekurhuleni, the voting station was also virtually empty for most part of the morning. It took voter Sizwe Ndlovu five minutes to cast his vote at the station.
“I'm really stunned because people are not showing any interest in the elections,” Ndlovu said.
ANC NEC communication sub-committee chair, Nkenke Kekana, said they were concerned about early indications of lower voter turnout in some areas because it's not good for democracy that people don't turn out in numbers to choose who runs their municipalities.
“In Johannesburg we are particularly concerned... Soweto tends to be slow when it comes to vote but there are other greater Johannesburg township like Alexandra, Ivory Park and Orange Farm where the queues are long,” Kekana said.
He said issues that the people of Soweto had with Eskom over power disconnections may have influenced the low turnout picture that emerged.
“We are encouraged by a show of force in Tshwane, the mood is also positive in Ekurhuleni with long queues,” Kekana said.
He blamed the low voter turnout on the elections happening on Monday, saying this has given most South Africans a long holiday with many people taking the opportunity to travel to their home villages.
In Marikana in the North West, voter turnout also mirrored some polling stations in Gauteng.
By 6pm, only 397 voters had voted at NG Kerk in Maditlhokwa out of the 1,321 registered voters. At Marikana Primary School, 1,059 people had cast their ballots out of 5,206 who registered. At Marikana Combined School, 1,028 people had also voted out of the 5,000 who registered.
Presiding officer Aubrey Koloko said he hoped the numbers would improve by the 9pm. “There is a culture of doing things late in Marikana...I hope the situation gets better,” he said.
Analysts said the ANC would be the biggest loser if there is a low voter turnout.
“The low voter turnout will favour parties like the DA and the Freedom Plus Front because traditionally it's white voters who vote for traditionally white parties who turn up so the contest in that context will be between the DA and the Freedom Front Plus,” said political analyst Aubrey Mashiqi.
“Since 2016 the ANC has become even more unpopular, there's a lot of anger towards the party about its failure to deliver at the local government level,” Mashiqi said.
“ANC supporters do not see an alternative in opposition parties, the majority who are eligible to vote are not turning up and the picture is already showing we are headed to a low voter turnout.”
Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana, associate professor of politics at the University of Johannesburg and author of Anatomy of the ANC in Power, said a bigger turnout has always benefited the ANC as it's the largest party. He said the picture of a lower turnout which emerged last night meant the ANC needed to worry more than any other party.
“A lower turnout is an expression of unhappiness with municipal performance and obviously the ANC controls a large majority of these municipalities... the ANC has big problems in their hands,” Ndletyana said.
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