Month: June 2024

A Group, Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF), has urged the youth in Ondo State to take advantage of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the state.

The Programme Manager, BIGIF, Mr Nelson Akerele, made the call on Thursday in Akure.

Akerele urged all the eligible youth and first-time voters to take advantage of the opportunity, as the state prepare for the governorship election scheduled for November.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) had opened registration on May 27, and will run until June 5 across the 18 local government areas.

The CVR exercise allows new registrants, those wishing to transfer their registrations, and individuals with lost or defaced Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to obtain replacements.

According to Akerele, the CVR process is crucial for including eligible Nigerians, who have reached the voting age of 18 since the last registration exercise to ensure that they are not disenfranchised.

Ak
erele decried low turnout observed at some centers, describing it as discouraging, thereby urged all stakeholders to mobilise people for the CVR exercise, stating that, ‘your vote is your power.’

The group, which is a youth-led non-governmental organisation, is actively encouraging youths and other eligible residents to register and obtain their PVCs.

Akerele stressed the importance of inclusive political participation for building a stable society and developing policies that address the needs of younger generations.

He called on the youth to engage in community and national life, contributing to the country’s future through creative and productive thinking.

Supported by LeapAfrica under the Nigeria Youth Future Fund, BIGIF aimed to engage youths in active participation and decision-making processes.

Akerele expressed optimisms that increase in the youth inclusion in governance will lead to inclusive development and national recovery.

NAN reports that BIGIF is a registered nonpartisan, nonprofit organi
sation focused on women and youths empowerment, good governance, policy advocacy, and citizens engagement.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

With more than 98% of votes in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections having being captured and validated, voter turnout for these elections is at over 50%.

The Electoral Commission’s 2024 National and Provincial Elections Results Dashboard placed voter turnout at 58.57 % as at 10:52 am on Saturday.

This as 98.42% of votes or 22 923 of 23 292 voting districts, having been completed.

South Africans voted in the seventh democratic elections on Wednesday, 29 May.

According to the dashboard, Gauteng currently stands with the highest voter turnout at 63.72%. The province had a registered population of 6,541,978 in these elections.

This as registered voters in completed voting districts (VDs) stood at 584,569 and the total votes cast in completed VDs stood at 372,465.

Gauteng was followed by the Northern Cape at 62.49 % and KwaZulu-Natal at 61.81 % to date.

The Western Cape is fourth at 58.09 %.

The other provinces stood as follows as at 10:26 am:

Free State 57.45 %

Mpumalanga 58.03 %

Eastern Cape 54
.47 %

Limpopo 53.68 %

North West 51.82 %

Vote capturing and validation continues.

Voter turnout in the 2019 national elections was at 66.05 %.

Source: South African Government News Agency

South Africa is inching closer to capturing and validating 100% of the votes cast in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

At 12:51pm on Saturday, vote counting, and validation stood at 98,91 % with 23 028 of 23 292 voting districts completed nationally.

this as South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday, 29 May.

According to the Election Commission’s (IEC) Results Dashboard, the ANC is in the lead with 40.29 of the vote followed by the DA at 21.64% and MK Party at 14.70%

In Limpopo, 3 199 of 3 216 voting districts completed. This means that 99.47% of vote counting has been completed. The ANC is in the lead in that province at 74.27% followed by the EFF at 12.92% and the DA at 6.09%.

The North West is at 98.56% with 1 713 of 1 738 voting districts (VDs) completed. In this province the ANC at 58.95% followed by the EFF at 16.51% and DA at 13.02%.

Mpumalanga is at 98.4% with 1 782 of 1 811 VDs completed. The ANC is leading with 51.75% of the vote followed by the MK Party at 17.40% and EFF at 12.7
0%.

KwaZulu-Natal is at 99.58% complete with 4 953 of 4 974 voting districts completed.

The MK Party is in the lead with 45.93% of the vote followed by the ANC at 17.61% and IFP at 16.26%.

Vote counting and validation in the Free State is complete at 100% with all of the 1 586 of 1 586 VDs completed.

The ANC is in the lead in the province at 52.88% followed by the DA at 21.31% and EFF at 13.09%.

The Eastern Cape is at 98.5% with 4 794 of 4 867 voting districts completed. The ANC has 63.22% of the vote followed by the DA at 13.92% and EFF at 10.08%.

The Western Cape is at 97.68% with 1 534 of 1 572 VDs completed. The DA is leading at 53.23% followed by the ANC at 21.19 and PA at 7.43%.

Counting in the Northern Cape is complete with 730 of 730 VDs completed. The ANC is in the lead with 49.30% of the votes followed by the DA at 21.22% and EFF at 12.89%.

Gauteng is at 94.46% with 2 642 of 2 797 voting districts completed. The ANC is in the lead with 36.31% of the vote followed by the DA at 26.97% and EFF
at 12.46%.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Southern African Development Community Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) has described the pre-election and voting phases of South Africa’s National and Provincial Elections as having being held in an ‘orderly, peaceful and free atmosphere’.

South Africa’s elections were held by the Electoral Commission (IEC) on Wednesday, 29 May.

In a preliminary statement, Former Zambian Vice President and SEOM Head, Enock Kavindele, said some 84 observers were deployed to all nine provinces and they engaged with stakeholders from all parts of society on the elections.

‘The mission observed that the country was calm and peaceful in the pre-election, election-day, and the immediate post-election period. I must emphasise that this was a very conducive environment for the elections, where only a few isolated incidences of political violence were reported.

‘It was the concern of stakeholders that the incidences prevented special voting and final election campaign events in the areas. Apart from these isolated inciden
ces, our observers deployed across the country witnessed numerous peaceful, well planned, and highly attended political rallies,’ he said.

He noted that the South African Police Service (SAPS) ‘maintained its vigilance and preserved peace’ during the election period with ‘more resources to high-risk areas to address eventualities’.

Best practice and recommendations

The mission praised the IEC for its best practices on the following:

Online voter registration for citizens, including in the diaspora, which encouraged young and first-time voters to register;

With the support of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, for facilitating voting by South African residents abroad;

Implementation of special voting, particularly to include voters who for reasons of infirmity or other challenges, would not have been able to cast their votes at the polling stations;

Swift responsiveness to false, misleading information, particularly online/social media; and

Openness to the public and close liai
son with political parties and independent candidates.

Kavindele said that while the mission to the South African elections has not expired yet, it has made some recommendations.

These include:

Government and the National Assembly are urged to ensure that substantive electoral law reforms are debated and adopted early in the next electoral cycle in order to avoid the introduction of electoral reforms close to the election periods

The IEC is urged to assess options on how best to ensure that the Voter Management Devices do not present challenges encountered on Election Day. The IEC could consider a manual voter’s roll to be displayed at polling stations so that voters can verify where they are registered

The IEC is encouraged to review its civic and voter education programmes, learning from the challenges experienced in 2024, and design new programmes that comprehensively address the new electoral processes.

The SAPS should consider recruiting adequate police officers to be permanently stationed all poll
ing stations.

‘In conclusion, the SEOM observed that the pre-election and voting phases of the 2024 National and Provincial Assembly Elections were professionally organised, and conducted in an orderly, peaceful and free atmosphere, which enabled the voters to express their democratic will and those who sought office to campaign freely.

‘The Mission commends the people of South Africa for the political maturity, spirit of tolerance and calm that generally prevailed during this electoral period. In the event of any electoral disputes, the Mission appeals to all contestants to channel their concerns through established legal procedures and processes,’ Kavindele said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill of 2023, which establishes a ‘two-pot’ system that gives members of retirement funds access to retirement savings without having to resign or cash out entire pension funds.

The amendment law introduces a ‘two-pot’ retirement system to address the concerns related to lack of preservation before retirement and lack of access to retirement funds by households in financial distress.

According to a statement by the Presidency, this retirement system comprises a savings and retirement component for contributions made after 1 September 2024, while historical retirement benefits will be housed in a vested component.

Individuals will have access to amounts in the savings component before retirement for times of financial distress, and the amounts in the retirement component are preserved until retirement.

‘The primary objective of the two-pot retirement system is to provide flexibility for fund members to access their retirement savings
during emergencies, without necessitating resignation.

‘The reform introduced by the legislation strives to strike a balance between long-term security and immediate needs, recognising life’s unpredictability,’ said the Presidency.

It permits fund members to access a portion of their savings during crises, such as those seen during the COVID-19 challenges.

These changes ensure the retirement system remains responsive to diverse financial needs, supporting both long-term financial security and immediate assistance during emergencies.

Traditional retirement systems primarily focus on long-term savings, often lacking the adaptability to address immediate financial crises.

President Ramaphosa said: ‘While we are continuing the task of growing our economy to create more opportunities for all South Africans and reduce the financial vulnerability affecting many individuals and households, the new retirement system offers protection and dignity to those who need it the most to overcome financial stress.’

South
African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill

Meanwhile, the President has also signed into law the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill, which effects a number of amendments that bring South Africa in line with the World Anti-Doping Code of 2021.

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) role is to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports.

The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) is a public entity under the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and is defined in the amended legislation as the national anti-doping organisation.

The legislative amendment also clarifies the powers of SAIDS.

The SAIDS has major role to play in preventing the use of prohibited substances in the South African and international sporting environment that are contrary to the principles of fair play and the health and well-being of athletes.

The amendments enacted by President Ramaphosa have been induced by a World Anti-Doping Agency review of relevant South Afri
can legislation in 2022.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has assured the citizens of South Africa that the election results management process has been compliant with electoral legislation.

This comes as some political parties have raised concerns about how votes are being handled.

‘The commission wishes to assure this nation and everyone else that is following our elections that indeed we continue to place priority on the finalisation of this result in a transparent and orderly manner,’ said IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya at a briefing on Saturday.

Moepya said they have engaged with the Party Liaison Committees (PLCs) and that the IEC has agreed to a request to look at the objections that have been filed late.

This comes after some parties claimed there were several result discrepancies in some districts across the country.

‘I’m pleased to indicate that the commission has agreed to that request. Because there is a lot of goodwill that must be shown throughout this election compilation process, we have agreed that
the process will be continued until 18:00 this afternoon,’ Moepya said.

The deadline for the public and political parties to lodge objections and disputes had officially closed yesterday.

Speaking at the national Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Midrand, the Chairperson said the IEC welcomed the constructive way of allowing political parties and independent candidates to bring their deep-felt concerns to the commission.

‘This is very important in an electoral contest,’ he stressed.

Moepya reiterated that every objection raised will be considered.

‘We are going to look at the issues that are brought before us and we are going to consider them in the process of assuring the integrity of these elections.’

Where the commission finds ‘materiality’ through the results process, the Chairperson promised that the IEC would apply the appropriate remedies, which in some instances may include specific recounts.

‘We are not going to rush; we are not going to overlook anything. We are going to walk as we look at e
very area of the work that is before us,’ he promised.

Chairperson highlighted the commission’s commitment to transparency and the need for calmness and reasonableness in the final stages of the election process.

‘We ask for all electoral stakeholders, especially the esteemed leaders of contesting political parties and independent candidates, the media, civil society, faith-based institutions, institutions of traditional leadership, organised labour, organised business and every one of the citizens of this beloved country to please remain calm and for leaders to lead this nation at this time and for voices of reason to continue to prevail.’

Source: South African Government News Agency