Thank you, esteemed Programme Director,
Chairperson of the Commission, Mr Mosotho Moepya
Esteemed Commissioners of the Electoral Commission
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Lechesa Tsenoli
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr Amos Masondo
Minister in the Presidency, Ms Khumbudzo Ntshaveni
Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Ronald Lamola
Deputy Minister of Police, Mr Cassel Mathale
President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Justice Mahube Molemela
Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Justice Xola Petse
Honourable leaders of political parties
Former Commissioners of the Electoral Commission
- Dr Brigalia Bam
- Adv Pansy Tlakula
- Ms Thoko Mpulwana
- Mr Terry Tselane
- Justice Thami Makhanya
Heads of our Constitutional Institutions
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Chairperson of the Board of the SABC, Mr Khathutshelo Ramukumba
Chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board, Mr Thabo Manyoni
Director-General in the Presidency, Ms Phindile Baleni
Heads of Departments and Directors-General in our system of government
Commissioner of Police, General Fanie Masemola
Esteemed members of Executive, Management and staff of the Electoral
Commission,
Members of the media,
Dear Compatriots,
South Africa’s democracy is 30 years this month on the 27th
of April 2024. As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of our
democracy, it is vital to reflect on one of its abiding successes. That is, the
conduct of regular, credible, free and fair elections underpinned by values of
multi-partyism, and universal suffrage as enshrined in our Constitution.
Elections serve as foundational to our democratic project. Elections foster
legitimacy in governance, electoral accountability, political representation,
macro-political stability and development. They are, therefore, part of our
national character, without which our democratic project is nugatory.
Today, we stand before South Africa and her people to affirm our
readiness to conduct an election which accords with the constitutional
yardsticks and international norms. We give this affirmation of readiness alive
to the enormity of the challenge that rests on our hands. We stand ready to assiduously ensure that we
do not let motherland down for otherwise history will have deleterious account
of our charge of this task. This is, therefore,
our readiness report.
Election Timetable
Following the proclamation of the election date by the President and the
provincial premiers, we published an Election Timetable on 24 February. The
timetable is an important statutory instrument that guides the performance of
various election activities. It provides cut-off times for the performance of
these important electoral activities. In a sense, the timetable is a statutory
guardrail for the preparations of the elections. It is a guiding light for electoral
preparations. Compliance to the provisions and terms of the timetable is not an
option but such compliance is peremptory for contestants, voters and the
electoral administration itself.
Certified Voters’ Roll
At the heart of an electoral enterprise such as ours is citizenship
participation. Following two rounds of registration weekends, and a sustained
campaign promoting the online registration system, the voters’ roll was
certified on 12 March 2024. The certification of the voters’ roll constitutes
the edifice upon which a credible election is predicated.
The certified voters’ roll stands at 27.7 million voters. South Africa
has not seen this level of registration since the voters’ roll was first
established in 1999.
Since we launched the online registration portal in July 2021, a
whopping 2.4 million voters have used the portal to either register for the
first time or change their registration details. Owing to the efficacy of this
portal, the registration of young persons is beginning to show initial signs of
recovery. Measured against the estimated voting age population, the
registration coverage in the 18–19 year-olds stands 27 percent whilst
registration coverage stands at 48.6 percent in the 20–29 year-olds. Coming of
a low registration base, the historical under-representation of young persons
on the voters’ roll is showing welcome signs of amelioration. This can only bode well for the future of
electoral democracy in the country.
To accord with historical trends, there are more female voters than
there are men. 15.3 million voters are female whilst male voters are 12.4
million. The provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal jointly account for 44 per
cent of voters in the country. Gauteng has 6.5 million voters whilst
KwaZulu-Natal has 5.7 million voters. The province of the Eastern Cape comes in
third position at 3.4 million voters.
In line with established electoral practice, electronic copies of the
voters’ roll with redacted identity document numbers to align with national
frameworks for protection of personal information have been advanced to
participating contestants. This will enable contestants to canvass votes but
also to enable them to verify the accuracy of the roll.
Voting Stations
Consistent with the provisions of the election timetable on 12 April we
will publish a list of all voting stations and their locations. We have now
grown the network of voting stations to 23 292. In ordinary terms this
means the Electoral Commission is providing a service at over 23 000
points across the country. This fact and the overriding importance of providing
a consistent service at all voting stations accentuates the complexity of the
forthcoming election. Voting stations are now contracted with lease agreements
concluded with landlords.
There are 954 temporary sites where physical infrastructure is not
available. Temporary amenities are in the process of procurement to ensure that
voters who have to use these temporary facilities also vote in circumstances
that affirm their inherent human dignity.
Voter Education
Hitherto, the public education effort had been directed at improving the
registration levels. With the voters’ roll now certified, the efforts now turn
to ballot education. In this regard, the effort is about presenting the three
ballots to be used in the election and what each of these represents and the
eventual translation of valid votes to seats in the ten legislative assemblies.
Naturally, the delivery of voter education should be through multiple
media. The traditional face-to-face effort is supported by over
2500 Democracy Education Facilitators who engage with communities in the wards.
Radio, including community radio as well as television are also vital media of
delivering voter education. The frequency of our educational material will
increase to ensure that every voter is reached before election day.
Surely,
it would be remiss not to mention social media because a significant proportion
of the electorate receive news and engages politically and socially on social media
platforms. These therefore form part of the mix of platforms to provide voter
education and importantly to animate registered voters to vote on 29 May.
Special Votes
A credible electoral framework must make provision for those who are in
special circumstances. This is precisely because one’s constitutional right to
vote does not dissipate merely because of special circumstances. Thus, varied
mechanisms to access special voting arrangements are availed to the electorate.
Special vote applications for purposes of home visits and voting stations
visits will open on 15 April and close on 3 May. Home visits are intended for
those voters who are infirm or otherwise unable to travel to voting stations.
Voting station special votes are for everyone who is unable to attend to the
voting station on election day. Special voting will be conducted on the two
days preceding election day.
Furthermore, special votes will also be administered at the diplomatic
missions of the Republic. As matters stand, 58 000 voters have registered
on the international segment of the voters’ roll. These voters will be provided
for at the diplomatic missions of registration. South Africans who are registered
on the local segments of the voters’ roll but who may be temporarily absent
from the country have an opportunity to notify the Commission of the intended
absence and the mission where they intend to vote. Such notifications must be
lodged with the Chief Electoral Officer by 22 April. As at today 9 100
notifications have been approved. At the moment, therefore, there are
67 000 South Africans who are going to be voting outside the Republic.
This special voting will happen at missions about 10 days ahead of general
voting in the country.
Section 24A
Furthermore, voters who will be outside of the voting station of
registration do not loose their right to vote. Such voters may still access the
voting process by notifying the Chief Electoral Officer that they will not be
at their voting station on election day and where they will be casting their
ballots. Parliament intervened in 2021 with this requirement to fortify
controls in the voting process. Notifications in this regard will close on 17
May. The modalities of notification include physical forms at the local office
of the Commission or online on the website.
As at today just under twenty thousand notifications have been recorded.
Candidate Nomination
In line with the dictates of the timetable the close of the nomination
of candidates was on 8 March. Provisional indications are that seventy
political parties and 11 independents have succeeded in submitting nominations.
Fifteen political parties are contesting all tiers of the elections. In total
there are over 14, 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National Assembly
and Provincial Legislatures. In the nature of candidate nomination processes
there are disputes which the Electoral Court is seized with. These may
marginally alter the number of contestants.
The Commission will, on the 10th of April, publish the final
list of candidates as well as the list of parties to contest the various tiers
of the elections. As matters stand, there are 52 parties on the national
compensatory ballot. This means, decidedly, that this ballot will be configured
as a dual column ballot. The rest of the eighteen other ballots will remain
single column ballots which have been in use since our founding elections in
1994. We will issue certificates of candidature on 12 April.
Ballot Papers and the Electoral Logistics
The conclusion of the candidate nomination process on 10 April will
enable the intractable task of printing the ballot papers for the elections. In
this election, there is going to be nineteen different ballot configurations.
As indicated, there will be one national compensatory ballot, nine different
province-to-national ballots or regional ballots in short and a further nine
different provincial ballots. Needless
to say, the ballot paper is the ultimate resource for recording the voters’
choice.
It must thus be produced so as to facilitate the choice rather than
befog that choice. The Electoral Commission will be printing approximately 30
million ballots for each of the three ballot types. This enormous task which
includes printing, stitching the ballot papers into books of hundred and
accurately labelled must be completed with a 30-day printing window period.
Over 95 percent of logistical supplies for election day are already at
hand. An election is obviously a logistical undertaking of serious proportions.
We are in the process of distributing 1 873 tons of material between our
different warehousing and storage facilities across the country.
Voting Staff
An election is about systems, the law and processes as it is about
people. We are in the final stages of appointing 202 500 voting officials
who will discharge the responsibility of administering the electoral process in
the voting stations. These staff are being subjected to a hybrid training involving
online modules as well as practical modules. Cumulatively, the training
endeavour is intended that staff have an appreciation of the impartial
execution of their responsibility as well as competency in administering the
voting process.
In order to improve the quality of the counting and the completion of
result slips, the Commission is instituting a new category of staff who will
support the presiding officer with the counting effort. The recruitment
criteria for these staff is slightly different from the rest as high levels of
numeracy are mandatory. Three such staff are being appointed for each voting
station and each sub-station where we operate a voting centre.
The role of the media
The media remains a key cornerstone of credible flow of information about
the electoral process. We implore journalists and community reporters to report
truthfully, ethically, and professionally without fear or favour. Let your news
items promote electoral democracy and political stability for our country. The
professional and ethical conduct of those in media is even more important in
these days of disinformation, misinformation and mal-information.
We urge political role players to respect the vital role of the media in
the information ecosystem. The safety of journalists is our joint
responsibility. Without a well-informed citizenry our desired objective of a
credible election is rendered a nullity.
We urge all citizens not to be contributors to creation of instability
by participating in digital harms. You are a participant when you distribute
what is not true or factual and often unverified. This may cause harm to other
human beings or vitiate the credibility of the electoral process. This caution
is even more apt for those of us in the service of the Electoral Commission.
More importantly, political contestants must not be generators of false
information that may cause harm to our electoral democracy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, let us collectively uphold the ideals of democracy and
demonstrate our commitment to credible and transparent elections. As leaders of
political parties and citizens, let us lead by example, fostering an electoral
environment characterized by trust, integrity, and respect for all. For its
part, the Electoral Commission commits itself to pronounce an election outcome
rooted in the choices of the South African voters. As with any electoral
contest, the choice of the voter is paramount!
Thank you.
ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Ensuring free, fair and credible
elections
For media queries: Please contact Kate
Bapela on 082 600 6386
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