South Africa must not tolerate “no-go” zones or the exclusive political turf of one party at the upcoming local government elections, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa was addressing the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) handover of its 2014 Atlas of Results yesterday, an event attended by Speaker Baleka Mbete and ANC ministers Malusi Gigaba and Des van Rooyen.
The atlas contains information and statistics from 2014 elections that are considered to be critical for political planning ahead of the upcoming municipal elections.
The book illustrates the geographic details of election results as well as the demographics of voters who participated in the elections.
“While that Atlas of Results shows how votes were politically distributed within certain geographies in the country, we must be clear that these concentrations must not be considered immutable,” Ramaphosa said.
“No part of the country should be considered the inalienable political turf of any one party. We cannot tolerate no-go areas.”
He said elections were not primarily about the fortunes of the political parties taking part.
“Elections are, first and foremost, about improving the lives of South Africans. This atlas is therefore an instrument to reinforce public confidence in the political process,” he said.
IEC chairman Vuma Mashinini said the comprehensive statistics related to the 2014 elections showed how young people between 18 and 19 who voted stood at just 2.5%.
Deputy chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo told a separate IEC briefing to the Home Affairs portfolio committee that their registration campaign was gaining momentum.
“We will see our posters going up. The momentum is building,” Mamabolo said.
He said they were still using 10-year-old technology for registering voters and after the elections they would look at the possibility of newer technology and explore other modalities in relation to the use of smart cards.
SA must not tolerate ‘no-go’ zones during polls, says Ramaphosa
Ramaphosa was addressing the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) handover of its 2014 Atlas of Results yesterday, an event attended by Speaker Baleka Mbete and ANC ministers Malusi Gigaba and Des van Rooyen.
The atlas contains information and statistics from 2014 elections that are considered to be critical for political planning ahead of the upcoming municipal elections.
The book illustrates the geographic details of election results as well as the demographics of voters who participated in the elections.
“While that Atlas of Results shows how votes were politically distributed within certain geographies in the country, we must be clear that these concentrations must not be considered immutable,” Ramaphosa said.
“No part of the country should be considered the inalienable political turf of any one party. We cannot tolerate no-go areas.”
He said elections were not primarily about the fortunes of the political parties taking part.
“Elections are, first and foremost, about improving the lives of South Africans. This atlas is therefore an instrument to reinforce public confidence in the political process,” he said.
IEC chairman Vuma Mashinini said the comprehensive statistics related to the 2014 elections showed how young people between 18 and 19 who voted stood at just 2.5%.
Deputy chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo told a separate IEC briefing to the Home Affairs portfolio committee that their registration campaign was gaining momentum.
“We will see our posters going up. The momentum is building,” Mamabolo said.
He said they were still using 10-year-old technology for registering voters and after the elections they would look at the possibility of newer technology and explore other modalities in relation to the use of smart cards.
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