Former president Thabo Mbeki. Picture: SOWETAN
Former president Thabo Mbeki. Picture: SOWETAN

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FORMER president Thabo Mbeki said he was grateful that he could fulfil his "citizen’s obligation" by casting a special vote on Tuesday morning in Johannesburg.

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) officials visited Mr Mbeki at his Johannesburg home where he cast a special vote before preparing to travel to a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Nigeria on Tuesday afternoon.

Two IEC officials assembled a table in Mr Mbeki’s yard before he emerged from the front door of his home and presented his green bar-coded identity book. The officials marked his left thumb as an indication that he had voted, stamped the envelopes in which he would place his ballot and explained the voting procedure to him.

He walked back into his home and re-emerged minutes later with a sealed envelope in his hand. The envelope was placed in a box and he shook hands with the officials and shared jokes. Gauteng finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe and Johannesburg executive mayor Parks Tau were also present.

Mr Mbeki said he was happy that he was allowed to cast a special vote as it allowed him to participate in the election process, as well as attend the WEF meeting, which he was due to address on Wednesday.

"I was very glad that the IEC agreed that we should do a special vote because this afternoon I have to go to Nigeria because the World Economic Forum is meeting there and tomorrow I have to address them on illicit capital outflows from the continent," Mr Mbeki said.

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When asked if he thought of former president Nelson Mandela while casting his vote, Mr Mbeki said South Africans have an obligation to vote in Wednesday’s polls, in honour of the many struggle heroes who dedicated their lives to ending apartheid.

"We must always bare in mind that Nelson Mandela was not alone in the struggle. There are many of our outstanding heroes and heroines who (were) there in 1994 and are not there now and indeed as part of our obligation towards them we must defend and exercise these democratic rights," Mr Mbeki said.

Further, Mr Mbeki said the state needed to ensure a safe election process.

Asked about his vote, Mr Mbeki said his vote was not an easy one to cast, given the long list of parties on the ballot, an answer that prompted laughter from surrounding journalists.

"The time (needed) to look at their manifestoes and what they are saying in order to make an intelligent decision is difficult but it is a decision that has to be made," Mr Mbeki said.