Electoral systems and political parties' campaign machinery will be put to test this weekend during the last voter registration weekend ahead of the crucial and high stakes municipal polls on November 1.
Not only will the Electoral Commission of SA's voting technology face a stress test at more than 23,000 voter registration stations, but political parties are also gearing up for a fight to win votes in key municipalities across the country.
And this election is unlike any other before, with polling stations expected to be controlled with enhanced public safety measures to ensure compliance with Covid-19 regulations.
Political parties, on the other hand, are also racing against time to get their campaigns up to full steam after the uncertainty and economic hardships caused by the pandemic.
0 of 4
The IEC said on Thursday that a total of 23,151 registration stations will be in operation from 8am till 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The commission said it will use its new voter management devices (VMDs) for the first time, doing away with the Zip-Zip machines that have been used since 1988.
VMDs allow for instantaneous citizenship verification and correct capturing of residential addresses and more than 40,000 devices will put to the test this weekend. The devices check voters' status before they are allowed to enter the voting station if they are registered in the correct district.
The use of the VMDs and the registration weekend is set to put IEC processes to the test ahead of the polls as some questioned its capacity to deliver credible elections.
The commission has also written to home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi, requesting that he facilitates a request to President Cyril Ramaphosa for the election day to be declared a public holiday.
The ANC, which has been slow to get off the mark in its election campaign, said while it was struggling to find donors for some of the election work it needed, it was ready for its manifesto launch that will take place in Tshwane on October 27.
ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said: “Our elections programme is firmly on track and in full swing. We are satisfied that all our processes are proceeding according to schedule and will meet the time lines as set out by the IEC.”
The governing party’s deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, hit the campaign trail in Cape Town, a DA stronghold, in what she called a bid to reclaim the city.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, on the other hand, has focused his party’s campaign on some of the key metros under the DA’s control this week.
These included Cape Town, where mayoral candidate Geordin Gwyn Hill-Lewis’s campaign was kick-started; and Tshwane, where mayoral candidate and current executive mayor Randal Williams also unveiled his vision for the capital city.
The IFP, whose strongest support remains in KwaZulu-Natal, where it controls several municipalities, is scheduled to hold its own election manifesto launch in Durban on September 30.
On Thursday, the Independent Citizen Movement was launched, which will contest all the 112 wards in Ekurhuleni. Rev Chris Mathebula of the Hope Restoration Ministries in Kempton Park is the ICM’s mayoral candidate.
A similar initiative was launched in Emfuleni by another group of religious leaders, which is called New Horizon Movement. It also includes agricultural forums, business forums and taxi associations. The initiative was endorsed by One SA leader Mmusi Maimane.
EFF leader Julius Malema criss-crossed Gauteng this week for his party, addressing community meetings in Ekurhuleni and Sedibeng while also holding dialogues with professionals in Johannesburg. The red berets are drumming up support for their manifesto launch scheduled for Sunday, September 26.
Malema also met with the EFF’s councillor candidates where he read them the riot act about how they had to conduct themselves and what the party’s expectations were.
Former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and his ActionSA have made the economic hub the prime target for the new party’s campaign after his official campaign launch on Tuesday.
“We need to get this city working again and to be able to do that we need to get rid of politicians as they only care about themselves,” Mashaba said.
On Friday, Mashaba is scheduled to take his mayoral campaign trail to Wanderers taxi rank in central Johannesburg.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.