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Elections in Mthatha highlight growing rift over value of the ballot box

Residents living in appalling conditions hope vote will make a difference

While displaced families endure squalid shelters, upmarket residents shun the ballot over sewage spills and broken roads

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Voters across Mthatha's King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality have approached the local government elections with sharply contrasting attitudes, highlighting deep divides over civic participation. While displaced residents enduring squalid temporary accommodation cast their ballots in the hope of securing long-promised housing, affluent homeowners chose to boycott the polls entirely in protest against failing infrastructure.

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