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- News24 is On The Road to tell South Africans' stories ahead of the election.
- In Bergsig, Laingsburg, there is much despondency about the lack of employment.
- News24's Manifesto Meter elections tool compares political party manifestos. Read more here.
As you turn off into the Laingsburg neighbourhood of Bergsig from the N1, a billboard advertising the voter registration weekend of 3 and 4 February pops out against the Karoo sky.
However, if you ask the people of Bergsig more than a month later whether they intend to vote, many will pose a despondent question back at you: Vote? For what?
"Here we struggle with work," 32-year-old Jake Ebrahim-Lippert told News24's On The Road team on Thursday as he sat on the pavement with a few friends, hardly 100 metres from the billboard.
Born and raised in the Western Cape Karoo-hinterland town of Laingsburg, Ebrahim-Lippert was released from jail in 2020 after a 13-and-a-half-year stint behind bars, but he has yet to find work.
He spoke of how, a little while ago, presumably around registration weekend, political parties descended on Bergsig.
"There is nothing I see them do," he said of politicians, explaining why he didn't bother to register.
According to Ebrahim-Lippert, the municipality told them, at a meeting in the hall, where they were provided with food, that millions would be spent on creating jobs.
"I don't see anything of the millions," he added. "They are eating the money. They're driving expensive cars. I'll vote for Jesus," he said.
Ebrahim-Lippert said he didn't want children "because of the problem I'm in".
Rweemus Matthews was concerned about his children and the effect of joblessness in the community.
He said rich people only provided jobs for their own children, while the children of the poor were left with no option but to steal to get by.
Henry Musimi said he did not know who to vote for.
"Maybe the ANC, perhaps the NP [which no longer exists], what kind of people I want to vote for, but I have no idea who I want to vote for.
"I want to vote, so I can see what the next person or party taking over will do for us. Will they step up?" Musimi asked.
The 51-year-old Musimi, like many Bergsig residents, lives with his 70-year-old mother in a RDP house not too far from where they sit daily, drinking, and from where they "skarrel", which translates to collecting metal scraps they hope to trade in for cash.
"I'm not in the mood for work because I am a disabled person."
Asked if he believed voting would change anything for him, Musimi said: "Maybe or maybe not; it depends on who takes over."
His elderly mother, who declined to speak to News24, was frying fat cakes on a two-plate stove. The walk to their home revealed several other houses on the quiet street, often with a dog keeping a watchful eye.
Though you might think the residents are away at work, there is activity inside the homes, while some people sit outside.
To enter Musimi's home, you must squat to enter the gate, where proof of his mother's daily chores greets you on the veranda. There is evidence that she spent the morning washing dishes and was now drying it in the sun.
Amid the despair of her surroundings, 19-year-old Kicia Louw has hope for the future.
She would have voted, but didn't register.
Louw lives with her sister, brother-in-law, and their two children. Both her parents are dead.
She describes drugs and teenage pregnancies as problems in her community.
She believes her involvement in sport, such as athletics and indigenous games, may have spared her from teenage pregnancy and drugs.
She told News24 that she coached a group of young children in athletics, in the hope that they, too, would "stay off the streets".
"I feel very good about it," she said. "It helps keep them away from the wrong things."
Next year, she intends to study at the University of Western Cape, where she will apply for financial assistance through the National Student Financial Aid scheme.
