Calls for tolerance in highly-contested polls in Mandela's home villages

Residents across Nelson Mandelaâ s ancestral home villages of Mvezo, Mqhekezweni, and Qunu are preparing to vote in what they describe as the most fiercely contested municipal ward elections in their history. Amid intense multi-party campaigning and an unprecedented contest that includes no ANC ward candidate in Qunu, traditional leaders and villagers are urging political tolerance and restraint to honour Madibaâ s legacy. While vibrant campaigning has energised the three communities in the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality, locals insist that incoming representatives must focus on long-standing grievances, including deteriorating roads, water shortages, and high youth unemployment, rather than abandoning them once the polls conclude.