BLAKE SOBCZAK
Would-be voters, including soap opera star Seputla Sebogodi, crowded the queues at the Soweto regional Home Affairs office in Orlando West yesterday.
Sebogodi, who plays the callous businessman Kenneth Mashaba in the TV soapie Generations, misplaced his ID in Polokwane and needed a temporary one in order to vote.
“Fortunately we have this facility which the government did very well,” he said. “The service was brilliant.”
Sebogodi got his temporary ID in less than an hour, but not all applicants were as lucky.
It took Soweto resident Etian Malungani four hours to get his temporary ID card. He has been waiting for his official ID for nearly five months.
“I’m going to try to vote but I’m not registered because I didn’t have an ID,” Malungani said yesterday afternoon.
“I’m frustrated. Everything’s stuck because you can’t do anything without your ID.”
Malungani ultimately could not participate in the election, leaving him disappointed.
The Department of Home Affairs gave out 436 temporary ID cards by 10am nationally on election day – and has issued more than 225 000 official IDs since April 13.
Meanwhile, Sebogodi travelled to his ward in Pretoria to vote. He stressed the importance of participation to combat the dark legacy of apartheid.
“In 1987 I was stopped at a roadblock and asked to recite Shakespeare in the middle of the night,” he said. “It was the worst humiliation I ever faced. I’m voting for me, my kids and my grandchildren, so we don’t have apartheid again.”