Voting for the RSA in the USA

I keep a R5 coin in my wallet. I have since I left South Africa 3 years ago to base myself here in New York City. It’s one of those special limited edition ones issued after the presidential election in 1994 – the 20th anniversary of which, our country recently celebrated.

Last Wednesday, as I made my way to the South African Consulate General in Midtown, my fingers brushed past the coin, when I was looking for money to buy yet another umbrella to fight the rainy, blustery weather conditions New York likes to throw at its inhabitants. 

It was really one of those horrid weather days when you’d do anything to stay indoors. Yet, it wasn’t a turn-off for the South Africans who are living in New York, or visiting on holiday, who had come to cast their ballots for the upcoming General Elections. 

Living overseas, it’s easy to feel very far away from home – even in the age of social media – when you stop commemorating Worker’s Day, and start celebrating Cinco De Mayo; when you’re forced to think in Fahrenheit and miles, and not Celsius and kms; when you live in Dollars and not in Rands. The US Consulate General, with its portraits of Jacob Zuma and Protea bouquets, is one of those places where you can go to feel like you’re stepped into a little piece of Pretoria for the day. 

Last Wednesday morning, as various South African accents filled the lift of the business building in which the Consulate General is housed, I felt a little bit closer to home. 

I interviewed voters about their experiences: Did they know about the voting process abroad? Had they filled out the required VEC10 form? Was their decision on who to vote for an easy or difficult one, being overseas? There were some who said the Consulate misinformed them when it came to the VEC10 form, and so they were disappointed they couldn’t vote because they hadn’t filled it out. 

Sadly, one of those who wasn’t able to vote was the legendary playwright Athol Fugard, who has created prize-winning protest theatre that’s as much a valuable contribution to the struggle as any. 

As I was leaving the Consulate General, I barely spotted him, in a nondescript beanie, half wet from the rain. He didn’t have two forms of ID on him – his green ID book was at home in South Africa. “This is a critical election,” he said to me, the disappointment very clear in his voice. “With South Africa on tenterhooks at the moment, every vote counts, and I’m only sorry that I won’t be able to add my voice – even if all it is, is a mark on a piece of paper.”

The 81-year-old writer isn’t certain he’ll be around for the next elections, and while I understand rules are rules, I felt like saying to the presiding officer that they should go and have a look at his picture hanging up in a Broadway theatre if they really wanted double proof of who he is.

For the most part, there were a lot of South Africans who were happy and proud to have voted. A couple, here visiting family, told me: “There are a lot of people who aren’t voting at home, but if we can do it here, then they can.” A man originally from Joburg who’s been living here for 4 years said: “I’m living here for now, yes, but I still feel very invested in South Africa. I’m going to home at some point. And the previous generation fought very hard to give people the right to vote.”

I especially liked what one man, who’d flown in from Boston and made a work trip out of the occasion said: “Moving abroad doesn’t mean you’re not a citizen anymore. It’s like moving out of your parents house – you’re still their kid. I feel it’s important to keep a connection with the home where you grew up and the home you love.” 

For me, his words were a great response to something Simphiwe Dana had tweeted earlier that day: I’m of the mind that if you don’t live in SA you shouldn’t make decisions on how it’s run. #ExpatVote. Just because we’re here, for now, doesn’t mean we’ve abandoned South Africa. I don’t need reminding of this, but that R5 in my wallet is there nonetheless. No matter how many pennies or quarters fill up my wallet, I always know the R5 coin is in there, amongst them.