It is all systems go on the state of readiness for the fourth democratic local government elections, which will take place on 03 August 2016. The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Elections met today to ensure that preparations for the Local Government Elections are on track.
The IMC led by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Des van Rooyen, has been coordinating efforts with all stakeholders. The Committee is tasked with overseeing the smooth running of the elections and ensuring that voters are able to cast their votes in an environment that is both free and fair.
“We are at Day 56 in our countdown to Election Day and today’s interaction gives us an opportunity to assess our preparations for the coming local government elections. To date, government has embarked on a communication campaign to call on all eligible voters that have registered to vote to exercise their right to vote, come the 3rd of August 2016,” says Minister van Rooyen.
The IMC also noted the strides that have been made in preparations for the coming elections, including the gazetting of the election date by COGTA Minister, Des van Rooyen on 23 May 2016. This paved way for the IEC to start working as per their Election Timetable.
A significant increase in the number of political parties registered was also noted at 530. The IMC is also concerned about the acts of intimidation and violence that occurs in different areas that do not agree with the decisions that have been made by the Municipal Demarcation Board.
“We continue to strongly condemn the acts of intimidation and the destruction of state properties in those areas. We want to reiterate that we agree that people have a right to protest, but that should not mean to destroy public and private property. That we cannot accept. We have engaged with the affected communities and we will continue to do so. We believe that our efforts will bear fruit,” says Minister van Rooyen.
The South African Police Services, as one of the stakeholders in the IMC is busy ensuring that there is stability and security in the affected areas in preparations for the local government elections. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has been convened and the sub-committee on elections is co-ordinating safety and security planning for the elections. In addition to this, the JCPS Cluster has planned a series of outreach activities to various municipalities across the country to ensure a safe election.
“We are now left with just under two months to ensure that we have free and fair 2016 local government elections. This, whilst we are awaiting an important Constitutional Court decision on the clarification of the challenges relating to citizens and households without formal addresses,” says Minister van Rooyen.
The IMC continues to work on finding solutions and exploring options of having proposals to assign addresses to households without formal addresses. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) and the South African Post Office (SAPO) is busy assigning geo-coded identifiers to residents without addresses.
The Minister also reiterated that the right to vote for the people of South Africa should not be hindered because of work, such as in farming communities.
The IMC says they believe that working together, another successful local government elections can be successfully delivered. They also wish to encourage all South Africans to go out in their numbers to strengthen their democracy and vote in the coming Local government elections.
Enquiries:
Tsakani Baloyi
Cell: 082 052 0892
Enquiries:
Legadima Leso
COGTA Head of Communications
Cell: 083 378 9495
