A pair of Parliamentary portfolio committees, one of them after an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) oversight visit, maintains South Africa is ready for a free and fair election day on 29 May.
Further impetus to the free and fair aspect of voting day comes from the African Union Commission (AUC) which will deploy an observation mission to South Africa. The 60-strong mission will be led by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and will touch down in South Africa eight days ahead of the 29 May polling date. The AUC mission will exit South Africa on 3 June.
Post an oversight visit to the IEC, presumably at its Centurion headquarters, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affair (PCHA) said it was “confident” the processes in place would see to it the election for national and provincial publicly elected representatives lived up to the “free and fair” reputation.
“The interactions held reaffirmed the confidence the committee has in the IEC as a prime institution that is capable of delivering on its constitutional mandate. The processes in place, the technological advances and training undertaken are testament to the credibility of the institution to run these elections,” committee chair Mosa Chabane is reported as saying in a Parliamentary Communication Service statement.
While at the IEC the committee saw demonstrations of voter management devices and is confident they will “enhance” voting.
Nocks Seabi, Portfolio Committee on Police (PCP) chair, is reported as saying co-ordinated and intelligence-led planning and operations are in place to secure the 2024 provincial and national elections. The plan covers before, during, and after elections. His comments come in a statement issued after the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster briefing led by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise.
“It is important that operations are intelligence led to ensure threats are dealt with swiftly. Also of importance is collaboration with communities through the sharing of information to enable the security agencies to respond timeously,” he is reported as saying.