Citizens can still register to vote in the national elections, the Presidency announced today Monday 10 February, as party representatives reported a smooth registration weekend in Makana Municipality.
Citizens can still register to vote in the national elections, the Presidency announced today Monday 10 February, as party representatives reported a smooth registration weekend in Makana Municipality.
While 7 May 2014 has been announced as the date for the national elections, it has not been officially proclaimed, spokesman for the Presidency Mac Maharaj said today in a statement.
This means the Voters Roll is still open and potential voters who missed the weekend's final voter registration can still register at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) offices.
There are IEC offices in every municipality in South Africa. Grahamstown’s IEC offices are alongside the Department of Labour offices, opposite the Grand Res.
On Sunday alone, there were 472 new voter registrations in Makana, the ANC said.
The ANC sub-region hosted a registration event at Fingo Square on Saturday and also near Coolspot tavern, in Joza, on Sunday. The party’s sub-region chairperson Mncedisi Boma said the idea was to encourage young people to go and register to vote.
"What we did was to hold bashes in two areas where we were giving a message encouraging people, especially the youth, to go and register to vote," Boma told Grocott’s Mail on Monday 10 February.
He said he had also helped with registration at the Rhodes Theatre, where several first-time voters came to register.
“I was the one leading the process. The timing was perfect because the students were coming back and most of them are first-time voters. On Sunday only we had 472 new registrations,” he said.
He said the ANC would prioritise Rhodes University.
“We had a very successful registration weekend. Our party agents were at every voting station,” Boma said.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail on Monday 10 February local Democratic Alliance leader Les Reynolds said the final registration weekend had gone well,without any incidents reported.
Reynolds said there were no problems reported at the Rhodes University, Graeme College, Hill Street Library hall and Albany Recreation Hall voting stations during the weekend.
“Everything went successfully and we have lots of plans leading up to the elections,” he said.
Grahamstown Agang SA member Jock McConnachie said the registration weekend had gone relatively well, despite “challenges regarding a certain political party being allowed to wear party regalia at a voting station”. McConnachie said when he raised this concern with the IEC, he had been told that legally there was nothing stopping them from doing it.
“We did what we could to publicise the event. We can only hope that potential Agang voters took the opportunity to register so they can vote,” he said.
McConnachie also took the opportunity to clear up any confusion among local Agang SA members regarding the party’s association with the DA. He said the was no connection between Agang and the DA, adding that everyone in the party was happy with that position.
“The provincial structure is currently being finalised. It’s all systems go… I think we are more energetic than all the other political parties put together, McConnachie said.
Speaking ahead of the final weekend voter registration drive, ANC secretary in its Sara Baartman region, Scara Njadayi, told Grocott’s Mail the organisation had been visiting prisons, encouraging inmates to vote.
Commenting on President Jacob Zuma’s announcement on Friday 7 February of the date of the 2014 national election, Njadayi said the organisation in the region would continue with their planning.
“As I am speaking now, we are busy addressing and mobilising the youth to go and register to vote this weekend,” Njadayi said. "Our programmes are continuous. The region and its structures are also busy with door to door visits to encourage people to go and register in this last open weekend."
He appealed for Grahamstown residents to collect their identity documents from Home Affairs.
"There are hundreds of ID books at Home Affairs that have not been collected,” he said, “especially in Grahamstown. We urge people to go and collect them so that they can register to vote."
Around midday on Friday, the President noted that the electoral term of the present government would come to an end on 22 April.
Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission announced late Sunday 9 February that most registration stations had opened on schedule for the final weekend registration drive.
Only the weather had caused some obstacles to an otherwise smooth process at the country’s 22 263 voting stations, the IEC said in a media release.
“In most cases it was the recent rains which caused the most challenges with stations opening late as election officials struggled to reach remote rural areas on impassable roads,” the statement said.
Voting stations were also reported open and operational in most areas of recent community protest, the IEC said.
To find out the location of their correct voting station eligible voters can use the Voting Station Finder APP on www.elections.org.za or call the IEC Call Centre at 0800 11 8000.
Voters who are already registered can check their registration details, including which voting station they are registered at, by SMSing their ID number to 32810.
