Pretoria - Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela has congratulated all the young first time voters who registered to vote in the 2016 Local Government Elections, at the weekend.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa hosted a registration drive on 5 and 6 March focussing on getting more young people between the ages of 16 and 35 to register to vote.
“We are pleased that the youth of South Africa realise that local government is in their hands and are opting to be full participants in this fundamental democratic process,” said Deputy Minister Manamela.
The Presidency on Thursday said young people heeded the call by government to use the voter registration weekend to register their intent to take part in the upcoming local government elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa said 5 44 552 young people between the ages of 16 and 29 were registered on 5 and 6 March 2016.
“This is 78.6 percent of all the new registration recorded over the weekend. This is testimony that the voter education and election drives targeting young people have succeeded in getting young people to vote.
“This is a significant increase, however there are still many young South Africans who are not registered and more work needs to be done to instil an appetite for participatory democracy in our youth,” said the Presidency.
It said the struggle for freedom secured the right for every citizen of the country above the age of 18 to exercise their constitutional right to elect leaders of their choosing.
“It is therefore the responsibility of everyone to register to vote and inspire others to do the same.”
Deputy Minister Manamela will continue to encourage young people to register to vote as the next registration weekend takes place on 9 and 10 April 2016. - SAnews.gov.za
