Pretoria – With just a few days to go before the 3 August Municipal Elections, government has called on all eligible voters to go in their numbers to cast their votes.
“We encourage all eligible voters, particularly the youth, to come out on Wednesday and vote, and welcome voters in Vuwani who have committed to express their voice peacefully through the ballot.
“While the country is making progress in ensuring that these elections are conducted in a peaceful environment, government has noted that there are still a few disgruntled elements focused on disrupting elections in our communities,” said Acting Cabinet spokesperson Donald Liphoko.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has already officially launched the National Results Operations Centre in Pretoria. According to the IEC, they have received over 740 000 special vote applications, which is three times the number of 2011.
Communities are encouraged to report any incidents of intimidation to the nearest police station. The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster has put measures in place to ensure the safety of voters during the elections.
About 100 000 police officers will be on election duty next week. Over 50 000 police officers will be on duty at voting stations across the country, while the rest will be mobile so that they can respond to situations should they occur. Police will also be deployed to known hotspots.
Officers will also undertake duties such as escorting IEC officials, undertaking patrols, securing ballot papers and protecting electoral staff.
“Government further commends the IEC and the country’s law enforcement officers for the swift and efficient manner in which they handled the recent incident where boxes containing ballot papers were stolen from a delivery vehicle in Soweto.
“As government, we have full confidence in the IEC and we have no doubt that it will conduct free and fair elections.
“Government will not tolerate any action aimed at disrupting the elections and will ensure that those who aim to disrupt these elections face the full might of the law. We also call on all political parties to abide by the IEC code of conduct and to raise any breaches swiftly with the IEC. Let’s work together to ensure a successful election, where the voices of all 26 million voters can be counted,” Liphoko said.
The 2016 Municipal Elections are an opportunity for South Africans to have a direct say in who runs their community and ward. The councillors South Africans elect will serve on the town, city, metropolitan and district councils.
The IEC says it has 26 333 3535 million voters on the voters’ roll. This is approximately 77 percent of the eligible voting population.
The IEC has a record number of voting stations at 22 612, a record number of parties contesting the elections at 204 (68% more than 2011), a record number of candidates at 63 654 (18% more than 2011) competing for a record number of councillor positions (9 301), a record number of independent candidates – 855 (compared to 754 in 2011) and a record number of unique ballots – 4 649. – SAnews.gov.za
