Cape Town ‘born hustler’ rents out household chairs to voters in long queues - News24

While many voters braved long lines on Wednesday, one resident of Kensington in Cape Town had another idea.

Ziyaad Barron, whom News24 met outside the Windemere High voting station, said he was one of the first people in the line before voting stations opened at 07:00.

He told News24: “I saw a loophole this morning. I thought that this can take forever. I had to make a plan.”

Barron, 36, who is unemployed, described himself as a “born hustler”.

After finishing voting, he decided to grab his household chairs and rent them out for R10 to voters who were standing in long lines.

The ward is run by the Patriotic Alliance’s (PA) Cheslyn Daniels, who is gunning for a second term as ward councillor.

In 2021, the DA won the ward with 53.91% of the vote. Fast-forward to November 2022, DA councillor Helen Jacobs resigned, and the ward seat was contested via a by-election.

In February 2023, the PA won the ward, and Daniels became the party’s first ward councillor in the City of Cape Town, albeit in a contest in which neither the DA nor the ANC fielded any candidates.

While Barron did not say who he voted for, he said he voted because “laaities [young boys] are picking up guns”.

This was the biggest issue he identified within his community. Others he identified included an influx of drugs.

So far, Barron has made R180 from his chair rentals.

However, he said, “I’m waiting for tonight”, as the evening voting rush is expected.

The ward is expected to be tightly contested, especially as Daniels is standing for re-election against his own brother, who is a DA candidate.

This ward race echoes similar struggles for the DA and PA, as they battle for control in Cape Town and the wider Western Cape.

News24 surveyed 5,001 registered voters to reveal who leads, what voters want fixed, and which coalitions South Africans could support.

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