Elections 2014 - Guidelines on Media Coverage for Election Day

Please note: These guidelines are applicable to all voting stations - permanent, temporary and mobile - in South Africa and abroad.

Voting station boundaries

A voting station is made up of the actual ‘room’ where voting is taking place as well as the area around the ‘room’ as demarcated by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for the purposes of the elections.

No political activity is allowed within the voting station or the demarcated area except the casting of votes.

Except with the Presiding Officer, no interviews may take place within the boundaries of a voting station.

Please note that except for the voters casting their vote at the voting station no persons including journalists will be allowed to wear any political apparel or paraphernalia inside the boundaries of a voting station.

Accreditation to cover elections

Media representatives will not need formal accreditation to gain access to voting stations (except in the Cape Town Metro), but they will be required to identify themselves clearly as members of the media by presenting a valid press card or signed letter from their editor (on the organisation’s letterhead) in addition to an Identity Document or Passport.

Members of the media will need accreditation for all Results Operation Centres.

Please check with each provincial Results Operation Centre for their requirements. Details below:

National
Contact person: Lydia Young on 082 650 8652

Eastern Cape 
Contact persons: Kayakazi Magudumana / Pearl Ngoza on 043-709 4200

Free State 
Contact persons: Jabulani Tshabalala / Mmathabo Rasengane on 051-401 5000

Gauteng 
Contact persons: Thabo Masemula or Nico Moremi / Boitumelo Monaki on 011-644 7400

KwaZulu-Natal 
Contact persons: Thabani Ngwira on 084 505 5117 / Penny Ward on 031-279 2200      

Limpopo 
Contact persons: Mmemezi Dlamini on 083 496 3141 / Motsiri Ramafalo on 015-283 9100

Mpumalanga
Contact persons:  Jabu Mthethwa on 072 135 1107 / Sibusiso Nkosi on 013-754 0200

North West 
Contact persons: Kim Kresfelder on 078 931 2319 or 018-391 0800

Northern Cape 
Contact persons: Elkin Topkin on 082 650 4261 / Ntsoaki Sebeela on 053-838 5000

Western Cape 
Contact persons: Derrick Marco on 082 560 7026 / Trevor Davids on 021-910 5701 or 074 4752 082

Access times to voting stations

Voting hours in South Africa are from 07h00 to 21h00. No media coverage will be allowed once the voting stations have closed and counting has started.

Members of the media will be given access to a voting station at the discretion of the Presiding Officer of the particular voting station.

Presiding Officers are also under no obligation to grant the media access to the voting station or to discuss the activities in the voting station.

Queries that fall outside of the mandate of the Presiding Officer will be escalated to the IEC official spokesperson at the Results Operations Centre in Pretoria or the particular provincial results operation centre.

Interviews/information at voting stations

In terms of the Section 109 of the Electoral Act, No 73 of 1998, no persons including the media may print, publish or distribute any exit polls taken in the elections in process during the hours of voting (07h00 to 21h00).

Voters, party agents, candidates and accredited observers have to be interviewed outside of the boundaries of a voting station.

Except for the Presiding Officer no interviews may be conducted with any other voting station staff/IEC staff at a voting station.

Presiding Officers are mandated to talk on the following:

  • Voter turnout at their voting station.
  • Arrangements for voting at their station.

Media queries on the following topics have to be directed to either the Media Centre at the Results Operation Centre in Pretoria or provincial centres as appropriate:

  • Content and number of objections as these are subject to an appeals process.
  • Activities outside the boundaries of the voting station.
  • Policy matters.

In terms of the Elections Regulations no person including the voter may produce a photographic image of a marked ballot. This is a criminal offence.

No visuals are allowed inside the boundaries of a voting station without the permission of the affected voter and the Presiding Officer.

No visuals are allowed where the secrecy of a voter’s ballot may be compromised.

Once the results have been finalised at the voting station the Presiding Officer may inform the media of the PROVISIONAL count.

Copies of the results slips will not be made available to the media.

Voting in prisons

Access to prisons must be arranged with the respective heads of prisons.

 

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