For Busi Mashiyane-Zuma, Jabu Sibeko and Isabel Zikalala, Ohlange High School, in KwaZulu-Natal, is more then just the place Nelson Mandela cast his first vote in 1994, it is where their friendship was formed.

The trio, who are originally from Gauteng, boarded at the school in the 80s. Forty years after completing school, the trio went back to the school to cast their vote in the 2019 national elections.

"We decided to come vote here so we could remember our youth," Zikalala said.

The long-time friends planned the trip to Durban to vote and also to celebrate Zikalala and Mashiyane-Zuma's 58th birthdays when the "stars aligned in their favour".

"When the president announced when the elections would be (around the time of our trip) we knew we had to come back and vote where it all began," said Zikalala.

The gang said they felt nostalgic walking through the corridors that shaped their future.

"I literally felt goosebumps walking through our old school I don't even have enough words for how it felt," she said.