As South Africans vote in the 2024 general elections for various reasons across the country, residents in Lamontville, south of Durban, say they are voting for change and a better future.

There has been a perceived strong voter turnout across the country on voting day as South Africans vote for a better future. The IEC said it expected the turnout to match or outperform the 66% turnout achieved in 2019.

Mandisa Ndlovu, a resident of Lamontville, who braved the cold weather in the early hours of the morning to be among the first to cast their vote said she voted because she wanted to see a change in the country's fortunes after the elections.

"I am voting because I want to see a change in our country. Electricity, waterand everything that we sometimes lack and also job opportunities as young people, we are not getting jobs so we would like to change"

"We want the young people to be employed so that crime also gets reduced," Ndlovu added.

Another voter in Lamontville, a township in the Durban south area, Musawenkosi Malimela, said he was voting because he wanted the land to be returned to the people so that more jobs could be created in the future.

"The reason why we're voting today is we're seeing the tough situation young people find themselves in and we're also voting because we want to get the land so that we have more job opportunities.

“As I'm talking to you right now our gold is being moved out of the country to create job opportunities elsewhere and we're left without jobs," said Malimela.

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) of 2024 released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) young people continue to bear the brunt of unemployment as 45,5% of young people aged between the ages of 15-35 remain unemployed.

The report also saw the overall official unemployment rate rise from 32.1% to 32.9%.

Voting stations are expected to close at 9pm on Wednesday night. South Africans are reminded to vote where they are registered.

IOL News