A walk to a vote for Thabo Mbeki

Former president Thabo Mbeki walked from home to voting station and back, with no blue-light VIP vehicles in sight.

Johannesburg - Former president Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday walked from his house in Houghton, Johannesburg, to his voting station and back, shunning the blue-light VIP protection vehicles afforded to him.

A relaxed Mbeki set out on foot to the Holy Family College voting station accompanied by his bodyguards and was welcomed by the MEC for infrastructure in Gauteng, Qedani Mahlangu.

At the station, Mbeki went to both the African National Congress (ANC) and opposition party, Democratic Alliance’s (DA) gazebos to greet party agents.

DA party agents told him to “vote wisely” and Mbeki chuckled at them, saying the time for campaigning was over.

Asked whether his vote was still a secret, Mbeki concurred, saying that it all had to do with the integrity of the system.

“It’s a very important issue, this one. The reason there is an insistence to hold the vote secret is to ensure the integrity of the electoral system and to ensure that people can vote freely with their conscience and not be intimidated,” Mbeki said.

Mbeki’s loyalty to the ANC came under scrutiny before the elections after his refusal to campaign for the party though he affirmed being a member in good standing.

His meeting with leaders of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) earlier this week along with his refusal to campaign for the party he led before Jacob Zuma was read as disdain for the man who succeeded him a president of the party and then effectively toppled him as president.

Maintaining a safe distance from tensions within the party, Mbeki spoke in general terms, saying South African’s right to vote in another democratic election should be celebrated as a victory that the struggle for self determination had won.

“The Freedom Charter says the people shall govern, so this issue about the capacity of the people to choose their own government and participate in the process of determining policy has been central for many decades in our lives,” Mbeki said.

“Therefore when you come to exercise that vote, it’s in a sense a celebration of the struggle, it’s a celebration of that victory.”

African News Agency