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LETTER | Vote to help save our city

2 min read
More than 25 hours after many voting stations in the Eastern Cape officially closed their doors to voters, one station in East London remained open, as IEC officials were still busy with the counting of votes.
More than 25 hours after many voting stations in the Eastern Cape officially closed their doors to voters, one station in East London remained open, as IEC officials were still busy with the counting of votes. More than 25 hours after many voting stations in the Eastern Cape officially closed their doors to voters, one station in East London remained open, as IEC officials were still busy with the counting of votes.Picture: ALAISTER RUSSELL

All of a sudden, the much talked of municipal election is upon us, our chance to return our city to qualified, honest hands.

November 4 now still seems a long way off but you only have to the end of June to see that you are correctly registered before the voters roll closes.

The IEC will have all voting stations open on the 20th and 21st of June for this purpose.

In September, voters over the age of 60, students with an exam on election day, or any other folk with a valid reason will be able to apply for a special vote which will enable them to vote on the Monday or Tuesday.

September will also be the time for folk to apply for home visit from the IEC.

Particularly for the elderly it is critical to avoid long queues, and relieve the pressure on election day.

For those who are entitled to vote on the Monday and Tuesday, there is no excuse for pushing in at the front of the queue on the Wednesday

Voters going to the polls will receive two voting papers; one for the councillor of their choice and the other for their choice of political party.

Getting your choice of councillor is only half the job.

Getting the extra seats in council according to the proportion of party votes, can be critical.

In the last municipal election there were about 12,000 known DA voters in the wards I know who did not bother to vote, or found the queues too long.

Their votes would have probably given the DA an extra two councillors.

Since this probably happened in numerous other wards as well, the present destructive coalition could have been avoided.

The moral of the story is that if you want change you have to get out there and vote, no matter what!

Having known Retief Odendaal, and a good number of present councillors over the years, I am absolutely confident that if we can get him in as our new mayor, he can save our city from the brink of the hole we are sitting on at present.

With the appointment of a permanent, honest, qualifies city manager, overseeing municipal departments headed by appropriately qualified staff, this city can be made great again.

We need the resolve of the 1994 elections, for everyone to brave the queues and vote and help save our city .

Strelza