Address by Adv Pansy Tlakula, Chief Electoral Officer, at the launch of the 2011 Municipal Elections, Gallagher Convention Centre, January 12 2011
It gives me a great pleasure to welcome you to the official launch of the Electoral Commission's (Commission) national campaign for the 2011 Local Government Elections.
Ladies and gentlemen, since its inception in 1997, the Commission has managed a total of 5 elections; (three National and Provincial Elections and two Local Government Elections). Although all these elections went fairly smoothly, and were all declared free and fair by observers, these achievements have not lulled us into a sense of complacency.
After all, we understand fully that an election is a serious contestation for political power, and the stakes are high for those who participate in this contest. As we have witnessed in some parts of the African continent and the world, a badly managed election can lead to mayhem and loss of lives.
As an election management body, we are always mindful of the huge responsibility that rests upon us, to put in place, and implement election management processes that will produce an outcome that will be accepted by all contesting political parties, and candidates, and to do so without fear, favour and prejudice. We know that we can only do so if we are meticulous in our preparations for each election.
The preparations for the 2011 Local Government Elections started in earnest with the demarcation process by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB). I have to state at the outset that in terms of the laws of our country, the responsibility to demarcate municipal and ward boundaries lies with the MDB. The demarcation process resulted in the establishment of two new Metropolitan Councils, namely; Buffalo City and Mangaung, and a 10% increase of wards from 3 895 to 4 277.
In September 2010, the MDB submitted the final set of wards to the Commission, and we began with the process of re-delimitation of our voting districts to align them with the newly demarcated ward boundaries. We also created new voting districts to enhance the accessibility of voters to our voting stations.
For this coming elections, we have increased our voting stations by 6% from19 726 in 2009 to 20 868. To enhance the transparency of the re-delimitation of our voting districts, political parties who sit on the party liaison committees at the local government level were consulted on this process.
In our law, the right to vote includes the responsibility of eligible voters to register as voters. Our responsibility is to compile and maintain a comprehensive, inclusive, accurate and up to date voter's roll, and this process must be fully transparent. Over the years we have done our outmost to fulfill this mammoth responsibility.
As in the past, for this coming election we have established voter registration processes that will facilitate the registration of first time eligible voters, re-registration for those who have changed addresses since they last registered, and verification of registration details for those who are already registered. I am pleased to announce that we will open all our voting stations on 5 and 6 February 2011 from 8am to 5pm on both days for voter registration. Depending on the response, we may have another registration weekend but we cannot guarantee this.
Our public call center is already functional, and members of the public can call 0 800 11 8000 on week days between 8am and 5pm to verify their registration details, or to check where they must register if they are registering for the first time, or have moved house. Registration details can also be checked on our website which is www.elections.org.za.
It is a well known fact that an inaccurate voters' roll, and an unlawful or fraudulent voter registration process have bedeviled elections in many parts of the world. The type of electoral system that we use for the local government elections makes these elections to be highly contested because every vote counts. Therefore, the accuracy of the voters' roll is of critical importance in these elections.
It is therefore imperative for voters to register where they live, and to vote where they are registered. It is against this background that we are appealing to all South Africans, in particular political parties, to assist us to comply with the obligation that the law places on us, namely; to ensure that our voters' roll is accurate and up to date. Currently there are 23 181 997 voters on our voters' roll, and we are committed to increasing this number.
The complexities of the local government elections require us to intensify our voter and balloting education.
The increased number of wards will result in 4 555 different types of ballot papers for these elections. In a Metropolitan Council, a voter will receive two ballot papers; one for a proportional representation (PR) list councilor, and the other for a ward councilor.
In a Local Council, a voter will receive three types of ballot papers; one for a proportional representation (PR) list councilor, one for a district councilor, and one for a ward councilor.
We are therefore doing our outmost in our voter outreach initiatives to reach out to as many South Africans as possible, particularly voters with little or no formal education, and first time voters. We are partnering with amongst others, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, community-based organisations, and traditional leaders to ensure that our civic and voter education initiatives are effectively distributed throughout the country.
We have already recruited and trained almost 60 000 officials for voter registration, and we will recruit 196 000 officials for voting day. As is customary, the party liaison committees have been consulted on the appointment of presiding and deputy presiding officers, to ensure that they comply with the criteria that we have set to ensure their independence and impartiality. The criteria are that an officer:
•· Must not in the last five years have held a political office, or been a candidate in an election, or have been politically active for a political party;
•· Must not in the last five years have held office in an organization that has party political affiliations or aims.
We received objections against 69 proposed registration officials who allegedly did not meet our set criteria, and after investigation, we removed and replaced 50.
The highest number of objections came from Limpopo, where we had to replace 38 candidates who were all found to be politically active for a political party, or held a political office in a political party. Limpopo was followed by the Western Cape where we replaced 10 candidates who were politically active and canvassed for a political party.
Following the 2006 local government elections, and the 2009 national and provincial elections, attention was given to areas in the current legislation that required amendment to bring them in line with best practice.
Consequently the Municipal Electoral Amendment Act, 14 of 2010 (Act) was adopted with the objective of amending the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act, 2000. The Commission will also amend the regulations adopted under the Act.
Major amendments to the Act include the streamlining of the candidate nomination process, in order to give both a contesting candidate, and a political party, time to correct minor deficiencies such as omission to attach to the nomination documents an undertaking signed by the party's duly authorised representative, or by the candidate binding such a party, or candidate to the Code of Conduct before formally rejecting the nomination.
The major proposed amendments to the regulations include, the increase of the number of signatures of registered voters required for registration of a political party, from fifty to hundred.
The deposit payable for contesting an election will also increase from
R3 000.00 to R4 000.00 for contesting both proportional and ward elections in a Metropolitan Council; from R2 000.00 to R2 500.00 for contesting both proportional and ward elections in a Local Council; from R1 000.00 to R1 500.00 for contesting a proportional election only in a District Council; and from R 500.00 to R1 000.00 to contest as a ward or independent candidate only.
In 2006, out of a total 45 189 candidates nominated for these elections, 15 718 (35%) were women, and 13 168 (29%) were young people between 18 and 35 years of age. Of these, only 3 314 women, and
1 503 young people between 18 and 35 years of age were elected as councilors. We urge all the political parties to ensure that more women and young people are elected as councilors in the forth coming elections. Voter registration statistics tell us that there are always more women on the voters roll than men. Surely this has to count for something!
Conclusion
We South Africans have a lot to be grateful for. In 1994, we proved the world wrong and had a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy. In 2010 we once again proved the prophets of doom wrong by successfully hosting the first FIFA World Cup on the African continent. We showed the world the love that we have for our country by supporting what became one of the best soccer tournaments in the history of FIFA.
What other way can we continue to show the love we have for our country other than by coming out in our numbers, firstly to register, and then to cast our votes so that we can together continue to shape our amazing country's future?
I Thank You.
Statement issued by the Electoral Commission, January 12 2011
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