Register to vote for your future

02 March 2016

 

City of Johannesburg’s Speaker of Council, Councillor Connie Bapela, yesterday made a special plea to the youth of Johannesburg to “seize the moment” by registering to vote in the upcoming local government elections.

 

The election date has not yet been set but President Jacob Zuma told Parliament during his State of the Nation Address last month that the polls would be held within 90 days after May 18, the date of the last municipal elections, meaning that they could take place by mid-August.

Speaking during a voter education drive at the East Bank Hall in Alexandra, Councillor Bapela said the youth must use their democratic right to vote.

“You are the future and it’s your future that you are voting for. Use your vote responsibly,” she said.

The Independent Electoral Commission recently said that 80% of the people not on the voters’ roll were aged below 35. The event was organised by the Gauteng Legislature and was attended by representatives of various stakeholders, including the South African Local Government Association, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Higher Education & Training, South African Union of Students and the Moral Regeneration Movement.

Masego Shiburi, the IEC’s Gauteng Elections Director, said the commission was ready to register first time voters this coming weekend (February 5-6). Shiburi allayed fears that only those with physical addresses could register to vote. He said of the 25 million people on the voters’ roll, about eight million did not have physical addresses and a further eight million had generic addresses.

“This should not be your worry since we have made provisions for that. In case you have no fixed address you will be required to fill in two separate forms when you register,” he said.

Albert Matsaung, the Department of Home Affairs’ Provincial Manager, said his department would dispatch mobile units to areas where there were no Home Affairs offices to assist people with their applications for identity documents. He said the department had also made special arrangements for the elderly, who would have their own queues.

Seth Mazibuko of the Moral Regeneration Movement urged everyone to vote “ethically and responsibly”.