by Lebogang Seale
Johannesburg - Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe were confronted by a political suitor and a foe, respectively, as they cast their votes on Wednesday.
As Motlanthe was fielding questions from the media, a man walked up to him and yelled “How do you sleep at night? This was in an apparent reference to the alleged corruption and many scandals associated with President Jacob Zuma’s administration.
“Well, that’s part of his democratic right, it’s his opinion and we can only respect that right,” an unperturbed Motlanthe later said of the man’s rants when asked for his response by a journalist.
Mbeki, meanwhile, had to ward off the media spotlight after a DA party agent tried to court him to her party.
“Vote wisely,” the woman said. But Mbeki simply laughed off her remarks.
Mbeki and Motlanthe voted at venues not far from each other, the former in Killarney and the latter in Houghton but their views were not as close as the proximity of their voting stations.
While Motlanthe was forthright about his preference for the ANC, Mbeki was resolute in maintaining that “my vote is a secret”.
Motlanthe had initially sounded diplomatic as he confined his talk to the importance of municipal government “as it represents the core phase where government and communities interact…”
He was, however, frank when asked whether he was adopting the same stance as Mbeki.
“It is known... open, that I have been canvassing for the ANC. This is our ward candidate, she’s standing next to us because we are active members of our branch here,” Motlanthe said, pointing to a woman who stood between him and his wife, Gugu.
Mbeki was as diplomatic when quizzed: “We hope people can vote fairly with their conscience and not be intimidated. I think it’s important to communicate this message.
“So everybody should be assured that what they have done here, there should not be anybody who will ask them why did you vote for so and so and not for so and so,” he said.
Mbeki expressed concern about the political killings that have marred the road to the municipal elections.
“All of us we are very deeply concerned about the reports in the media, in terms of the candidate councillors being killed.”
When asked about the sporadic incidents of intimidation and violence, he said: “That’s very sad, it’s very bad thing.”