A bottle store owner in Brakpan said on Wednesday the nearby polling station had given his business a significant boost.
”Sales are much better than a normal Wednesday and a bit better than any other public holiday,” said Joao Achadinha, owner of Sherwood Liquors. ”I actually wouldn’t mind if they had an election more often. This is great.”
According to Achadinha, sales of beer and brandy in particular have soared.
”This is still big Castle Lager drinking country,” he explained.
”After they’ve voted most of these guys will probably have a braai and a braai here means brandy, so I’ve sold quite a lot of Richelieu brandy as well.”
Despite the proximity of the bottle store, nobody has arrived drunk at the Sherwood Gardens polling station.
”Everything is running smoothly,” said Bongo Zikode, the deputy presiding officer at the station.
”I haven’t seen anyone intoxicated and nobody is giving any trouble. If, later on, someone is drunk and causes a disturbance we’ll talk to them and sort it out.
”I doubt anything like that will happen though. South Africans are now used to democratic elections. We’ve experienced no trouble and we are not expecting any either.”
For the four policemen watching proceedings from the shade of a shop awning, the most pressing issue was not crowd control but rather finding a place to sit.
Eventually, an obliging member of the public provided two chairs. For the two officers still standing, the search for comfort will no doubt continue. – Sapa