Voting continues in London until 9pm on Sunday
On Saturday, around 800 South Africans were making their mark at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, every hour.
South Africans lined up to vote in London on 18 May 2024.
LONDON - Voting abroad continues in central London until 9pm on Sunday.
On Saturday, around 800 South Africans were making their mark at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, every hour.
The queue to reach the polling booth inside was around three hours long - some wore Springbok jerseys, others red Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) berets, green African National Congress (ANC) bucket hats, or blue Democratic Alliance (DA) stickers.
The deputy high commissioner for South Africa in the United Kingdom, Dineo Matlhako, spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News.
“We have 70 staff working inside South Africa House and 20 people working outside. This is the highest deployment at any voting station.
“The highest deployment you’d have in South Africa is 35 people, so we are working very hard in London to make sure that all 24,000 registered voters vote today.”
Hayley Reichart is with the Ground Work Collective, a non-profit group independently monitoring these elections, and she explained why the vote abroad remains critical.
“First of all, we are still citizens of the country. A lot of still contribute back home. At the end of the day, a part of why I’m doing all the engaging with South Africans around the world is to get them to realise that their vote does count. Every vote counts. We can make a significant impact on driving change and improvement in the country.”