Mirroring scenes of South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, thousands of voters across the country have formed snaking queues at various voting stations to ensure the voices of the people are heard in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.
Today’s election marks a significant day on this year’s calendar as South Africans will once again exercise their democratic right to vote in the seventh democratic elections.
In what is stated to be the most contested elections in the history of the country, these elections are taking place as the country celebrates 30 years of freedom and democracy.
Overall, 70 political parties are contesting the elections, 11 independent candidates, and the national contestants are 52. In total, there are over 14 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National and Provincial Legislatures.
Voting is taking place from 7am until 9pm.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) assured citizens that no eligible voter will be turned away and that every voter in a queue by 9pm will be assisted.
Voters should go to cast their ballots where they are registered as they can only vote at voting districts where they are registered.
Ensuring safe elections
Government has reiterated to citizens that the elections will be conducted in a safe and secure environment.
The Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security (JCPS) Cluster has emphasised that no one has a right to intimidate and prevent others from exercising their Constitutional right to vote for a party of his or her choice.
It said it stands ready to execute its mandate of protecting the public, the country’s strategic installations and infrastructure during the election period.
“Our law enforcement agencies have led in developing the national security plan which has been approved by the Ministers of the JCPS Cluster. NATJOINTS [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure] has done a thorough threat and crime pattern analysis to inform the development of a security plan and they want to ensure that nothing is left to chance,” Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise said.
Last week, Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, launched a 24-hour NATJOINTS Coordination Centre (NCC), which serves as a nodal point for information sharing and the coordination of swift and prompt responses in respect to matters relating to the management of national security.
The NCC is in place to monitor the security situation on the ground throughout the country, proactively and reactively to ensure the elections take place under a safe and secure environment to enable South Africans to cast their votes without any fear.
The new centre is equipped with the state-of-the-art modern technology, which links up with all nine Provincial Joint structures to provide real-time monitoring and response to incidents.
Guide to using three ballot papers
For the first time ever, voters will this year receive three ballot papers instead of two ballots.
The Electoral Commission has urged voters to carefully review and mark each of these three ballot papers before depositing them into the ballot box.
The use of the three ballots follows the amendment of the Electoral Act, which was signed into law in April 2023.
This amendment revised the electoral system to allow independent candidates to contest in the regional (province-to-national) tier of the National Assembly and the Provincial Legislatures.
The three ballot papers are as follows:
- The national ballot: This ballot will consist of a list of political parties vying for seats for 200 seats in the National Assembly. This ballot will be used to vote for political parties. There are currently 52 parties who will be on this ballot and the configuration will be a dual column.
- The regional or province-to-national ballots: This will have political parties and independent candidates contesting for the seats reserved for each province in the National Assembly. Voters will use this ballot to elect a political party or an independent candidate to represent them in the National Assembly. The number of contestants range from 30 to 44 on regional ballots. The configuration of this ballot is single column.
- The provincial ballots: This ballot is unique to each province and includes parties and independent candidates competing for seats in each respective provincial legislature. This ballot will allow voters to choose either a political party or an independent candidate to represent them in provincial legislatures. The number of contestants range from 24 to 45 on the provincial legislatures ballots.
The commission said the design of the ballot papers will be underpinned by the following identifiers:
- Full registered name of the party
- The photograph of the registered party leader
- Registered abbreviated name of the party
- The registered emblem or symbol of the party
- In respect of independent candidates, the ballot papers will have:
- The name of the independent
- The photograph bearing the face of the independent
- The word “INDEPENDENT”
Voters can check their registration details and confirm the location of their correct voting stations by using the following channels:
- www.elections.org.za/pw/Voter/Voter-Information
- SMSing their ID number to 32810
- 0800 11 8000
- WhatsApp ‘Hi’ to 0600 88 0000
Ahead of today’s elections, South Africans abroad cast their votes with the commission confirming that special voting abroad proceeded smoothly with no major incidents. - SAnews.gov.za
