Shielding herself from the heat with an umbrella, Joanna Moleko walked home with a friend after seamlessly casting her vote at the Christiaan De Wet Primary School voting station in Sophiatown on Wednesday.
“The biggest issue in Sophiatown is water,” she said. “It is significant because I can tell you that during the day there is no water. Either there’s no water or the pressure is low.
“Remember, if it’s low pressure, you cannot do the washing because the machine cannot work. We just wait until the water is okay so we can start washing. I cannot wash by hand. They must make a plan. We have to have water. Somebody must just come and rescue this place.
“But it’s not only Sophiatown, it’s all over, even in Hyde Park. My daughter is in Hyde Park. I said: ‘Maybe your place doesn’t have these problems because it’s where the rich people are.’ But she said: ‘What, mummy, we are the same.’
“The ruling party must pull up their socks. I’m sick and tired of this. I don’t even know them anymore because they don’t care. It’s like we don’t exist. Maybe for them we are dead already, we are already in Westpark, in the cemetery,” she laughed.
And it wasn’t just the water. “You can see the refuse collection, the dustbins outside. They were supposed to be collected yesterday [Tuesday] but they’re still there.”
She vowed that she would never vote for the ANC. “I even comment on TikTok when I see Cyril Ramaphosa. I say: ‘Are you joking?’”
Instead, she voted for the Freedom Front Plus and its former leader and Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald on Wednesday. “For Groenewald, viva! The next president, viva!” she shouted.
“But it’s true, a lot of us are voting for that man. Remember, they saw [political analyst] Fiona Bidi and after seeing Bidi, they’re saying: ‘Hey, my brother-in-law, for president.’”
What appeals to her, she said, is the prospect of a strict government. “I like the strict government. I don’t want police to be ignoring their jobs, talking on the phones. And Groenewald says no more phones. That’s Groenewald. And Groenewald, before they start working, they do what? Pray.
“They don’t burn the incense in parliament, inviting the demons. Let me tell you, my dear, if I burn that incense, I invite what? Evil spirits. It’s like I say: ‘Satan, come, let’s rule the country.’ Yes, he will come and then you’ll be killing each other like they are doing.”
She was convinced that many older voters shared her enthusiasm. “I believe 100%, and a lot of old people, if you ask them, they are voting [for] Groenewald forever. I want change, 100%. Please, South Africa, wake up. Rather bring Freedom Front Plus here in Sophiatown.”
At 63, she said, she had seen the country's decline first-hand. “I have been around, I have seen the decay. Have you seen other places like Berea, Hillbrow? Do you see what they look like? It’s so scary. It’s just like the monsters will come eat you up and then you’ll be done. But who can help us? This man [Groenewald] is going to help.
“Have you seen the police station [in Sophiatown], how rotten they are? I will go there and scream at them and tell them, ‘I don’t trust you because you are always looking for a bribe.’”
Nor was she keen on a coalition government for Johannesburg. “I just want the best party to win, that’s all. I don’t want them to be mixed because we won’t even see the best party. No, you cannot dilute Groenewald, never. You can give him a tot of whisky, you will never win.”
She and her friend, she said, had just been discussing how things had changed since the ANC came to power.
“My friend and I were just talking about the time when there were prayers at school. Immediately after the ANC came, everything was cancelled. Where is prayer? Where is God? How can you lead the country without God? Who do you think you are?
“But they believe in ancestors, remember? That is what makes me mad because I don’t believe in those dead people.”