Parliament, Tuesday, 09 May 2017 – The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs appreciates the work already done by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa in ensuring that the voters’ roll is compliant with the Tlokwe by-election Constitutional Court ruling. This is despite the large financial shortfall in the allocation given to the IEC to undertake this initiative.
The Committee received a post-election report from the Commission relating to the 2016 local government elections. Before the Constitutional Court ruling, approximately 16 million households in the country did not have any/complete addresses on the voters roll. This number has been reduced to approximately six million through several address-harvesting initiatives. Ultimately, the addresses will be linked to voting districts using global position satellite (GPS) coordinates.
This work was done notwithstanding the fact that the IEC was allocated to only R71 million of the requested R145 million from National Treasury. The Committee appreciates the fact that despite the R74 million shortfall, the IEC is on track on updating the addresses.
The heartening rise in new voter registration points to a maturing democracy, which must be encouraged. The IEC informed the Committee that 1.38 million new voters were registered in 2016, which brings the total voters roll to 26.3 million voters registered. A total of 205 political parties contested the elections with 63 654 candidates across 22 612 voting stations. Despite this, the overall voter turnout remains a slight concern for the Committee. At 58%, the voter turn-out remains low and initiatives must be put in place to encourage registered voters to vote.
The Committee remains concerned about significant delays by the Municipal Demarcation Board in the delimitation of ward boundaries that put undue pressure on the IEC’s planning processes. The Committee encourages the speedy conclusion of these processes in future to avoid delays, such as experienced in Vuwani.
The Committee is also concerned that some political parties continue to campaign on the day of elections. These parties have tables and tents close to the voting stations and campaign via television and electronic media on Election Day. To address this, an amendment to legislation with repercussions for transgression was proposed.
The new Home Affairs Minister’s commitment to the independence of the IEC and her pledge to increase support for the Commission by minimising challenges and ensuring adequate resource allocations is welcomed.
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MR LEMIAS MASHILE.
Media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson please contact:
Name: Mr Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
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E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
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