SummaryOpen the quick read
- Voters at the Missionvale Care Centre queued for hours beside overflowing raw sewage to cast their ballots.
- Elderly resident Kholisile Mdledle, 80, arrived at 2.30am to ensure his voice was heard on jobs and local government.
- Community members cited persistent sewage leaks, uncollected rubbish, and lack of toilets as chronic public health risks.
- Voting at one station faced delays due to party procedural checks and poor network reception.
- Voters expressed a collective frustration with ongoing service delivery failures, with some choosing to back alternative parties.
The stench of raw sewage spilling alongside a voting queue was a stark reminder of the conditions Missionvale residents said they had endured for years.
But for 80-year-old Kholisile Mdledle, waiting nearly five hours to cast his vote was a small price to pay for the chance to demand change.
Many Missionvale residents shared that sentiment, saying the decision to vote in Wednesday’s local government elections was driven by far more pressing concerns: overflowing sewage, illegal dumping, a lack of basic infrastructure and unemployment.
A determined Mdledle was the first to arrive at the Missionvale Care Centre voting station, pitching up at 2.30am, hours before voting was scheduled to begin at 7am.
At least 300 people turned out at the care centre and Missionvale Primary School voting station in the early morning, where residents queued to cast their ballots.
At the care centre, however, the stench of overflowing sewage forced voters to cover their noses.
The scene was markedly different at Missionvale Primary School, where speakers played music outside the voting venue.
Voting at the care centre only got under way at 7.20am after delays reportedly caused by political parties double-checking what they could and could not do.
Poor reception also contributed to the slow movement of voters.
Mdledle said he wanted to make sure he had a say in local government and hoped his vote would contribute towards job creation.
But while the turnout reflected residents' willingness to participate in the democratic process, their reasons for coming out to vote painted a bleak picture of a community desperate for change.
Several community members who did not want to be named said the sewage flowing alongside the voting queue was just one of many such problems in Missionvale.
They described the conditions as unhealthy, saying children regularly played in sewage flowing in the streets and their homes' yards and that the spillage next to the voting station had allegedly been ongoing for at least three months.
“There are kids roaming around, they play in the sewage in the community.
"This spillage which has been ongoing for at least three months next to our queue should have been fixed before we came to vote.
“There is a drain that has also been leaking [allegedly] for two years without being fixed, and homes that are swamped by sewage.
“Our children get sick with stomach issues and they develop problems with their skin.
"Locally, we want to see change and have people with experience attend council meetings,” they said.
Melikhaya Gwali, 58, from Rholihlahla informal settlement in Missionvale, said he had come out to vote because he wanted to see a positive change in his community.
“We do not have stormwater drains on our streets, our community is filthy, and we do not have toilets,” Gwali said.
Luyanda Gcomo, 50, from Missionvale GG Grounds, said sewage spills had become so commonplace that residents felt they were living like animals.
“We are so used to the smell of sewage that we could eat next to a spillage.
"It is not only the drains, there are illegal dumping sites as garbage isn't collected.
“Even if shacks catch fire here, it is difficult to get help,” Gwali said.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Ayafika Mgxekwana, of Algoa Park, was among the younger voters queuing at Missionvale Primary School.
He said he had given one particular political party a chance for far too long and believed it was time for change.
“As we grow, we see there is no change," Mgxekwana said.
“The same party seems to be stuck with the same problems they faced back in the day. I would like to see how other parties do."
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