Sy mamabolo
Mamabolo says the knock on IEC's reputation was unjustifiable
IEC chief Sy Mamabolo said this as the country commemorates 28 years since its first democratic elections in 1994.
The IEC said the 2021 election was the most difficult it had to oversee, due to a variety of challenges, including power cuts and the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said 26.2 million people had registered to vote in these elections, whereas 26.3 million were registered to vote in the 2016 local government elections.
At the close of registration on Saturday, over 488,000 South Africans were registered for the forthcoming municipal elections.
Just under 50,000 IEC staffers have been recruited and trained to allow the two-day process to run seamlessly.
The Electoral Commission’s chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo assured South Africans on 16 September 2021 that the commission was ready for the voter registration weekend, and that whether vaccinated or not, all South Africans still had the right to vote. #IEC #MunicipalElecetion #VoterRegistration
The first stage of the candidate nomination process concluded last night with the deadline for submissions at 9pm.
The commission received the final report of the Inquiry into Ensuring Free and Fair Elections during COVID-19 from former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke earlier this week.
Fatima Hassan of the Health Justice Initiative said the slow vaccine rollout meant many voters may not be inoculated by the October local government election.
The IEC made the submission at the inquiry into ensuring free and fair local government elections during COVID-19.
The president announced that the local government elections will be held in October despite strong opposition from some political parties who have warned that the pandemic will make it difficult for such to take place.
The act will regulate public and private funding of political parties represented in the national and provincial legislatures.
The IEC said that the sizes of legislatures have stagnated over the past 20 years and had not responded to changing population numbers.
Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo told Parliament that the devices would allow electoral officials to register voters in the particular part of a ward where they lived and note their address at the same time.
The IEC's chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said that a continental working group would be established to develop guidelines that would govern the use of digital and social media in elections on the continent.
IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said that any change to this system would be solely up to Parliament.
Mamabolo has conceded that the commission has room for improvement following this year's general elections.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said the Gauteng was the only province with more work still to be done.