SA heads to the polls in a month’s time

With one month to go, the Electoral Commission (IEC) is in the final stretch of preparations for the seventh democratic elections, which are believed to be the most contested in the history of the country.

South Africans will go to the polls on 29 May 2024 to the elect the leadership for the seventh administration out of the 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates that were published by the IEC as final contestants in these elections.  

In total, there are over 14 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National and Provincial Legislatures.

“The finalisation of the list of candidates contesting seats in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (NPE2024) means that the Commission can now go ahead with the printing of ballot papers for the elections. The 27.79 million registered voters will receive three ballot papers to elect candidates to represent them in the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures.

“In consort with the provisions of the election timetable, the Electoral Commission has also published the list of addresses of the 23 292 voting stations that will be used in these elections. The route for mobile voting stations has also been published,” the IEC said recently.

The highest number of voting stations will be in Kwazulu-Natal (4 974), then the Eastern Cape (4 868) and Limpopo (3 216). All voting stations are now contracted with lease agreements concluded with landlords or owners.

A list of the voting stations can be found on the Electoral Commission’s website.

Special votes

For those who would like to apply for special votes, for the purposes of home visits and voting station visits, there is still time to do so as the deadline for applications is on 3 May 2024.

“Home visits are intended for those voters who are unable to travel to voting stations whilst special votes at voting stations are for everyone who is unable to be at the voting station on Election Day. Special voting will be conducted on the two days preceding Election Day, on 27 and 28 May 2024,” the IEC said.

Special votes may be accessed using one of the following modalities:

• Using the secured online application form found at www.elections.org.za.
• By SMSing your identity number to 32249 (R1.00 per SMS) for voting station visit only.
• By visiting your local IEC office and submitting an Appendix 1B form for a voting station special vote.
• By visiting your local IEC office and submitting an Appendix 1A form for a home visit special vote. Forms can also be hand-delivered, but someone else can deliver a form on behalf of a voter.

Special votes will also be administered at South Africa’s diplomatic missions abroad to service 58 000 registered voters. These voters will be provided for at the diplomatic missions of the Republic.

Security plan

Government has, meanwhile, assured citizens that the elections will be conducted in a safe and secure environment.

“As the government, we want to issue a stern warning to anyone with intentions to disrupt the elections that law enforcement officers will deal with them decisively and will put them behind bars. We want to assure the public of the readiness of the JCPS [Justice, Crime Prevention and Security] Cluster to execute its mandate of protecting the public, our country’s strategic installations and infrastructure during the election period. We will do everything in our power to protect all those who want to exercise their Constitutional right to vote,” Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise said.

Government also urged members of the public to report any crime related to elections to their nearest police station or IEC offices.

“A protocol has been established between the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, South African Police Service (SAPS) Detectives and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prioritise all election-related crimes.

“Prosecutors stand ready to prosecute offences such as electoral fraud and corruption, removing or defacing political party and campaign posters, interfering with the duties of the electoral officials as well as forcing anyone to vote,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za