The South African Government acknowledges and welcomes the presence of various international election observer missions in the country ahead of the 2014 National and Provincial Elections, scheduled for 07 May 2014.
These missions include those dispatched by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth. The United Nations (UN) has also been invited to send an election observer mission. In addition, Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to South Africa have been invited by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to visit polling stations throughout the country; and this invitation is not transferrable. This is not necessarily a standard international practice. It’s not all countries that extend this courtesy to the Diplomatic Corps. Infact in South Africa it was previously extended beyond just the Ambassador/High Commissioner. And we do this even for countries that don’t extend the same courtesy to us during their own elections.
The international election observers are spread across all nine provinces to assess the conduct of the South African electoral process and monitor compliance with international standards. Government urges all those participating in the election to cooperate with the observers.
The practice of foreign countries and international organisations monitoring elections is accepted as one of the ways in which the international community can monitor and promote compliance with democratic values, principles and practices.
In the last 20 years of democracy, South African election observer missions, comprising government, parliamentary and civil society delegates, have been deployed to many parts of the world, mostly in Africa, to act as election observers.
Enquiries:
Clayson Monyela
082 884 5974
