With the voter registration weekend upon us, the NYDA is calling upon all eligible young people to take this opportunity to register on 5 and 6 February 2011. “Public participation processes are the cornerstone of our young yet strong democracy, as such it is imperative for young people to participate in these processes. This is an opportunity for them to define what becomes of their development in communities,” says NYDA Executive Chairperson, Andile Lungisa.
Lungisa says, through their activism, young people hold the responsibility of ensuring that youth development is accelerated at local government level. “Young people must take practical steps and ensure that they hold public representatives accountable and that delivery continues to improve their lives for the better,” he says. Lungisa further calls on all political parties to also field capable young people for the upcoming local government elections as part of their candidates to hold public office to ensure that young people are able to champion their interests at local government level.
“We must continue to do away with the perception that young people are often complacent and apathetic to issues of governance. We therefore strongly encourage young people to register where they live in order to vote at local government elections and further strengthen our democracy,” says Lungisa.
Lungisa adds that young people based at institutions of higher learning should treat the institutions as their temporary homes and also register to vote.
Young people are urged to note that to register they need a green bar coded South African identity document (ID) or a temporary identity certificate. To apply for these documents, they can go to their nearest Home Affairs office; the offices also have a number of unclaimed documents.
Enquiries:
Siyabonga Magadla
Cell: 083 686 9016
E-mail: SMagadla@nyda.gov.za
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) calls on all eligible young people to register to vote
