Nelson Mandela Bay: Music, fireworks and many gogos but low voter turnout | News24

- Ward 28’s Fairplaas Community Hall was abuzz with blaring amapiano and children setting off fireworks as elderly voters queued past 19:30.

- UDM candidate Vusimzi Dasi said the party rebounded from its 2021 loss by reconnecting with “the gogos” after support dwindled following leader Mongameli Bobani’s death in 2020.

- Nationally, 12 million of 29.2 million registered voters had cast ballots by 17:00, but turnout was uneven – Bethelsdorp had no afternoon queues while Summerstrand’s Ward 1 stayed busy until it closed.

- Read about your metro here.

Cars hooted, amapiano music blared from Polo Vivos and children played outside as late as 19:30 at the Fairplaas Community Hall in Nelson Mandela Bay Ward 28, possibly the buzziest voting district in the metro.

The children lit fireworks on Badela Street, making the mostly elderly women who stood outside the voting district uncomfortable.

“Khanihambeni (Please leave), man,” one elderly woman, in a UDM group, screamed as a group of teens set off fireworks near them.

The voters endured 26ºC heat earlier in the day, but in the afternoon most of them were in blankets as the temperatures dropped.

Last week, when News24 visited the same street, mayoral and councillor candidates from opposition parties were campaigning, chatting and waiting their turns to go into the houses to canvass voters.

In 2016, the UDM was at its strongest in Ward 28 and other wards, catapulting the late UDM leader Mongameli Bobani to town hall.

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After his death in 2020, party support dwindled at a local level.

“We went to get the gogos, and sat them down again, and that was of great help. The UDM is back and its presence is felt,” UDM ward candidate Vusimzi Dasi said, surrounded by more than a dozen old women.

The women agreed with him that this voting district seemed to be particularly busy.

“We won here in 2016 but lost in 2021. We went to fetch the grannies. If you remember, there was a leader, Bobani, in Ward 13, but after his death, we seemed distanced from the grannies.

“We’ve gone back to fetch them, and we also elected structures which discussed new ideas, and that’s why you see a stronger UDM in both NMB (Nelson Mandela Bay) and Buffalo City metros.”

The Electoral Commission of South Africa reported that 29.2 million South Africans were registered to vote in the local government elections.

By 10:00, 3.5 million ballots had been cast; by 17:00, that figure had climbed to 12 million, roughly 41% of all registered voters, with polls remaining open until 21:00. Gauteng led with 3 million votes cast (44%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 2.5 million (42%). A further 1.4 million special votes were cast on 2–3 November.

There was a general sense that township voters had stayed away earlier in the day.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, News24 visited all the voting districts in Bethelsdorp, where there were no queues in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, in Summerstrand’s Ward 1, there were still about 40 cars at the polling station just before 21:00.

People were consistently streaming in and out of the voting station in the morning, afternoon and evening. Music blared from a portable speaker as ANC and EFF activists danced and sang intermittently, with PAC and DA activists watching on.

But National Alliance Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk described the turnout as a “bit of a damp squib”, especially in the northern parts of the metro.

He said there was an expectation that one of the most hotly contested elections, at least during the campaign, would draw voters to the booth.

He noted that the elections coincided with the day on which social grants are paid.

“It was a bad idea to hold an election in the early part of the month. I don’t know whose idea it is,” Van Niekerk said.

“I know the guys in the other parties that I spoke to agreed with me that the low turnout was very, very small. I think it’s going to be below 1 000 to secure a single seat.”

He added that voters in the north appeared to be preoccupied with taking advantage of a day off work.

Visit the News24 elections map to see how your ward and municipality voted as the results come in.