Statement on Voter registration by Windvoel Skhosana
18 November 2008
The African National Congress welcomes the effort demonstrated by all South African Patriots to defend the democratic gains of the people and to advance towards a society in which the government is freely chosen by the people.
The IEC set aside the weekend of 8th & 9th of November 2008 as voter registration weekend. A total of 1 648 189 new applications were received whilst a further 1 752 596 currently registered persons applied for registration in a new voting district following a change of address. A further 293 871 persons re-registered in the same voting district they were registered in before. The total number of recorded visits to the registration stations thus came to 3 694 656.
The drive has far surpassed expectations and the IEC and all of us are delighted to see the success of the weekend drive to register new voters, especially the youths, who represent a majority of the weekend registration activity at 77.9%. The IEC says “We are proud to say that this was our most successful registration drive since 2000”, however there have been some challenges that crop up during voter registration, relating to the setting up of some Voting Districts and the opening times. We urge the IEC to attend to these challenges.
The African National Congress urges all registered voters to participate in their millions in the 2009 elections and renew the democratic mandate of the ANC.
I thank you!
Windvoel Skhosana, MP
Tel: 021 403 3215
