For some Free State residents, the dream of a better SA has completely dwindled
Small towns which once thrived with business are crumbling, local municipalities are failing to provide basic services and unemployment continues to rise in the province.
The Kgololosego Intermediate School voting station in Ventersdorp. Picture: Thabiso Goba/Eyewitness News
QWAQWA - Unemployment, lack of access to water and electricity, pothole-riddled roads, and dilapidated infrastructure.
One would think after 30 years of democracy, such issues would be a thing of the past for residents of the Free State.
But it’s not, and the bright future that was promised with the dawn of democracy has all but faded for the weary communities who are fed up with broken promises.
READ: 'Nothing much has changed': Anger over govt's failures fuels voting choices in FS village
For many residents of the Free State, the dream of a better future for the country has completely dwindled.
Small towns that once thrived with business are crumbling, local municipalities are failing to provide basic services, and unemployment continues to rise in the province, resulting in a dangerous brew of anger and alcohol abuse, forcing many into crime.
In Vrede, the beneficiaries of the Estina dairy farm scandal continue to question when justice will be served and those implicated in siphoning hundreds of millions to the Guptas will be held accountable.
In Qwaqwa, residents who spoke to Eyewitness News said they still did not have access to water, 30 years into democracy.
The region has one of the youngest voting populations in the province, and yet dozens of youth Eyewitness News spoke to said they would not be voting this year, citing the glaring pitfalls of government’s failures.