AYABONGA CAWE: Reflections on a ‘white’ election
The resurgence of FF+ is notable not only because it dented the DA’s support, but for the ominous signs of a 'fightback' against the land debate and other redistributory policies
Many people have spoken animatedly about the strong turnout of mostly white voters in the suburbs. Where I voted, save for groups of local black middle-class residents and a few ANC activists, there were very few black people, at least when I was there. This wasn’t surprising to me, nor a reflection of other voting stations. I had voted there before, and as was clear from images on social media platforms in the evening, voting stations in largely white areas stood at odds with the low turnout painted by the national statistics. One caller on MetroFMTalk spoke about the comparison between a voting station in his neighbourhood in Roodepoort (which was choc-a-bloc full) and one in Soweto, which he found relatively empty. Anecdote is not a replacement for empirical fact and evidence, but this fits in with the results that trickled in at the results operation centres.By the time these thoughts are published, the election results will have been released. It is already clear that the stor...
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