Staff Reporter

Special voting in the Joe Slovo informal settlement of Gqeberha was disrupted yesterday on the second day of early voting, as residents burned a bus in protest over poor service delivery in the area.

The protesters, who were demanding housing, prevented Electoral Commission (IEC) officials from entering the voting station. However, police were able to intervene and the IEC has since resumed setting up for voting.

“First of all there are no roads, secondly there is no housing, here are the pit toilets they smell you can’t even enter. We are suffering there are no jobs,” One resident fumed.

“It has been years without proper houses, we live in hell, this also decreases the value of the houses that are near us in the suburbs, we have been ignored for a long time.” Added another resident.

The disruption comes as the country prepares for the June 12 general elections.

Special voting, which allows the elderly, disabled, and those unable to vote on election day to cast their ballots early, began yesterday.

Residents expressed frustration that their basic needs have not been addressed, and revealed that their faith in the electoral process has been destroyed.