Basic Services, Fading Loyalties Loom over South Africa's Vote

Poor services and crime fuel voter frustration ahead of South Africa’s polls

South Africans head to the polls next week, with basic services, crime and unemployment among the key issues shaping the local elections.

In South Africa, the struggle for basic services is testing voters’ faith in democracy

CAPE TOWN, Oct 30 — Ntombekhaya Makeleni stopped using the communal toilets in her Cape Town neighbourhood after a group of men tried to force their way in as she was inside one...

Basic services, fading loyalties loom over South Africa's vote

Now the 53-year-old relies on a bucket that is emptied outside later, as do many others in the deprived township of Khayelitsha where thousands live in informal shacks with no sanitation. The lack of a decent toilet is pushing Makeleni to the polls in South Africa's local government elections next week. "I will be voting because after voting, things will be fixed," she told AFP. The November 4 poll promises a glimpse into whether frustrations wi…

Poor services and crime fuel voter frustration ahead of South Africa’s polls » Africa Global Village

Ntombekhaya Makeleni stopped using the communal toilets in her Cape Town neighbourhood after a group of men tried to force their way in as she was inside one day before dawn. Now the 53-year-old relies on a bucket that is emptied outside later, as do many others in the deprived township of Khayelitsha where thousands live in informal shacks with…

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