Pretoria - North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has expressed confidence that the 2016 Local Government Elections will go off smoothly without hindrance in the province tomorrow.
“I am confident that the elections will run smoothly with no hindrance,” he said on Tuesday.
Premier Mahumapelo, along with millions of other South Africans, will cast his vote in the country’s fifth democratic local elections on Wednesday.
Voting Day has been declared as a public holiday to allow those who are eligible to vote to exercise their democratic right to do so.
The Premier, who will cast his vote at Kebonang Secondary School in Unit 14, Mmabatho, at 7am, urged people to go out and vote.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) has 26 333 3535 million voters on the voters’ roll. This is approximately 77% of the eligible voting population.
Premier Mahumapelo said the right to vote is fully recognised as a fundamental right in South Africa and it must not be taken for granted.
Safety and security
The provincial Department of Community Safety and Transport Management has also confirmed the readiness of the province and assured the safety of those who will be voting.
There will be strong police visibility across the province to ensure that the 2016 Municipal Elections run smoothly with no interruptions.
The MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements in the province, Galaletsang Gaolaolwe, appealed to communities to allow electoral officials to do their work.
This as protests broke out in ward 8 in the Ratlou Local Municipality on the first day of the casting of special votes on Monday.
“We appeal to our communities to allow electoral officials to do their work and also not to engage in any activities that may disrupt the smooth running of the elections tomorrow. Once more, we call out to all eligible voters including new voters to take this opportunity to go and vote,” she said.
MEC Gaolaolwe also appealed to all stakeholders and communities in general to work together towards achieving free and fair elections.
“The overall success of the election requires all stakeholders to play an active role in ensuring a peaceful environment. Ensuring free and fair elections might be the primary responsibility of the IEC, but all relevant stakeholders have a major role to play.”
She confirmed officials at the Provincial Disaster Management Centre are also on stand-by to tackle and incident that might occur.
“We are ready to implement the Local Government Continuity Plan, which will ensure the continuity of operations after any kind of occurrence. Since 26 July 2016, we have activated the Disaster Management Centre, Municipal Centres as well as the Provincial Joint Operation Centre (ProvJOC), where we work with all security structures and the IEC. As a province, we are 100% ready for the local government elections,” said MEC Gaolaolwe.
Voters will be able to cast their votes between 7am and 7pm on Wednesday. – SAnews.gov.za
