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KWAZULU-NATAL. – Elderly residents of a care home in Amanzimtoti had to be taken to a voting station in their wheelchairs on Wednesday after they reportedly could not vote during the special voting process.
The Elders Voice KZN says the organisation made arrangements in advance with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for residents at three care homes in Pennington, Umbilo and Amanzimtoti to cast special votes. According to the organisation, residents at Pennington and Umbilo were able to vote on Monday when IEC officials visited the facilities, but the same did not happen at Amanzimtoti. The organisation ultimately took the residents who could not move to a voting station themselves in their wheelchairs so they could exercise their right to vote.
Read the full statement from the care home in English below:
EVERY VOTE SHOULD COUNT… OR DOES IT?
I think some serious questions need to be asked about the special voting process, particularly when it comes to our elderly residents. At The Elders Voice KZN, we made arrangements for our residents at Pennington, Umbilo and Amanzimtoti to be registered for special votes. All three homes followed exactly the same process, with the IEC visiting our facilities.
On Monday, the IEC visited Pennington and Umbilo, and our residents were able to cast their votes. However, when it came to Amanzimtoti, things took a very different turn. When we questioned our DA Ward Councillor, Mr Andre Beetge, we were told that it was a two-step process and that residents were also supposed to register themselves for special votes.
Now, excuse me, but that raises a few questions. Why did the IEC visit our homes in the first place if residents still had to complete another registration process themselves? Why was one of our Amanzimtoti residents actually listed on the special voters' roll and able to follow exactly the same process as everyone else, yet the remaining residents were unable to vote?
On Tuesday, I went to the voting station and, at the request of the IEC officials, contacted Mr Beetge. I placed him on speakerphone so that the IEC could explain the situation and establish whether anything could be done to assist our Amanzimtoti residents. His response was that there was nothing he could do. He described the entire process as a mess, said many people had not been registered and that it was what it was. If residents did not make their way to the voting station themselves on Wednesday, then they simply would not vote.
Really?
This is South Africa. A country where we are constantly reminded that every vote counts, that democracy is something we fought for, and that every citizen has a voice. Yet here we were, with elderly residents who had been through the registration process at their own homes, now potentially being denied the opportunity to exercise that very right.
It certainly doesn't give one much confidence in the system, and equally, it leaves us questioning the level of assistance and accountability we can expect from our own ward councillor when problems arise.
But here's the thing. Our residents are elderly. Some are frail, some are wheelchair-bound, and some cannot simply jump into a car and make their way to a voting station. However, they still understand their responsibility as citizens. They still believe their voices matter. They still believe they have a duty to vote. So, out of principle, we put our residents into their wheelchairs and physically wheeled them from the home to the voting station. Because we refuse to tell an elderly person that their voice doesn't matter.
We have spent years advocating for the rights, dignity and recognition of older people. They may be elderly, they may be frail, and they may need assistance with everyday activities, but they have not lost their citizenship, their opinions or their right to participate in democracy. And perhaps that is the biggest lesson here. Democracy should not depend on how mobile you are, how well you understand complicated registration procedures, or whether someone is prepared to help you when things go wrong.
Our elderly residents have earned the right to be heard. They deserve better than being told, "It is what it is." Every vote should count. Every voice should matter. And that includes the voices of our elderly.
The Elders Voice KZN — We will always make our voices heard.
Nuusflits has asked Beetge and the IEC for comment.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
