Durban - Ela Gandhi ,79, slipped in and out of the Hunt Road Secondary school voting station in Durban unnoticed.
Her contribution to the political landscape of South Africa did not gather attention from IEC officials and voters.
It was her sixth time to have voted since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
Gandhi is a peace activist and was a Member of Parliament in South Africa from 1994 to 2004, where she aligned with the African National Congress (ANC) party representing the Phoenix area of Inanda in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
"It is an important right to vote. If you dont you are silenced and cannot complain about poor service delivery. The process was very quick," she said.
According to Wikipedia Gandhi's parliamentary committee assignments included the Welfare, and Public Enterprises committees as well as the adhoc committee on surrogate motherhood. She was an alternate member of the Justice Committee and served on Theme Committee 5 on Judiciary and Legal Systems.
Gandhi served as an executive member of the Natal Organisation of Women from its inception until 1991. Her political affiliations include the Natal Indian Congress, which she served as vice president, the United Democratic Front, Descom Crisis Network, and Inanda Support Committee.
During apartheid, Gandhi was banned in 1975 from political activism and subjected to house arrest for a total of nine years. She worked underground for an end to the practice.
Ela Gandhi speaks about the importance of elections. Video by Zainul Dawood
She was among the members of the United Democratic Front who met with Nelson Mandela prior to his release from Pollsmoor Prison in 1990.
Ela Gandhi's contribution to politics and society is widely recognised.
In 2002, she received the Community of Christ International Peace Award.In 2007, she was conferred the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.
In 2013, she was awarded the Shanti Doot International Award - the honour for overseas Indians conferred by the World Peace Movement India.In 2014, she was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman - the highest honour for overseas Indians conferred by the President of India.
In 2014, she was also honoured as a veteran of the Umkhonto we Sizwe.