IEC Briefing on Id Campaign, Voters' Roll & Voter Education; Draft Immigration Regulations: briefing by Department

Meeting report

HOME AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
20 May 2003
IEC BRIEFING ON ID CAMPAIGN, VOTERS' ROLL & VOTER EDUCATION; DRAFT IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS: BRIEFING BY DEPARTMENT

Chairperson: Mr H Chauke (ANC)

Documents handed out:
IEC Presentation on Voter Education

SUMMARY
The Independent Electoral Commission briefed the Committee on their voter education programme, the ID campaign and progression on compiling a voters roll. Members raised a number of concerns. How the IEC plans to ensure that the voter education officials do not use that platform to push their own political agenda. The status and effect of the crossing-of-the-floor legislation on the IEC’s preparations for the 2004 elections. The confusion caused by the current legislative vacuum, the IEC’s plans to ensure that the administrative problems of the 2000 elections that resulted in so many South Africans not voting are not repeated in 2004. Lastly, why district co-ordinators are not employed on a permanent basis.

The deadline for comments on the Draft Regulations of the Immigration Act is 2 June 2003. The Committee was told that they could submit amendments or recommendations to the Minister, which would be duly considered.

MINUTES
Briefing by Independent Electoral Commission
Professor Herbert Vilakazi, IEC Deputy Chairperson, apologised for the absence of the IEC Chairperson, Dr Brigalia Bam, from the meeting, as she was not feeling well. Various members of the IEC delegation dealt with the different portions of the presentation.

Voter’s Roll
Adv Pansy Tlakula, IEC Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), briefed the Committee on the voters roll The IEC had to move voting stations to within the appropriate voting districts. The result is that there is a need for targeted voter registration in the 4700 voting districts. The new demarcation maps will be finalised and published by the end of June 2003. The appointment of officials will be completed by the end of July 2003, so that the delays that occurred in the 1999 elections will not be repeated. The final decisions on the door-to-door targeted registration campaign will be finalised by August or September 2003.

Results of the census
The IEC has been informed by Statistics South Africa that the census will be completed by the end of July 2003. The IEC will then only look at the number of current potential voters. Clearly the impact of the contemporary birth and death rates will affect this total number.

ID Campaign
Ms Thoko Mpumlwana, IEC Commissioner, conducted the presentation on the ID Campaign. She noted that the IEC has worked very well with the Department of Home Affairs on the identify documents of voters in the 1999 elections. This is an important campaign so that the young people can be responsible citizens and exercise their right to vote. The IEC has spoken with the Minister of Home Affairs as well as with the various MEC’s to discuss the possibility of including this aspect in the school syllabus. This is important because it has a tremendous impact on young people.

The IEC will also be focusing on the extent to which voters are able to access information on the elections, as well as their right to participate in the elections. The IEC will also be focusing on the access of persons with disabilities and women, especially those in the rural areas.

Challenges
Voter education is a massive project and the IEC has to use extensive resources to conduct it properly. The IEC’s budget is adequate to accommodate this, but the problem is that the IEC cannot reach its targets. Here the political parties have to play a role to keep help the public to vote, especially the emerging group of young people who can now exercise their vote.

Voter Education
Mr Mosotho Moepya, IEC Deputy CEO, conducted the presentation on Voter Education, which outlines the process followed in the 1994, 1999 and 2000 elections, the IEC activities since 2001, its preparations for the 2004 elections and the programmes for schools, the disabled and multi-media voter education. (Please see attached document) He added that the voter education campaign has been well received in the schools.

Discussion
Mr S Swart (ACDP) asked how many voters are represented by the 4789 demarcated voter districts. Is the IEC confident that it would reach those by the time the elections commence?

Adv Tlakula responded that the amount of 4700 does in fact refer only to voting districts, and not to the number of people themselves. She stated that she is not sure of the actual number of voters represented here, and these people have to be identified and registered. This has to be done because it is a legal obligation that has been placed on the CEO. The Committee can be provided with an estimate based on the number of voters per voting station.

Mr Swart asked how the IEC would ensure that the voter education officials will not use that platform to further their own party political agenda? Perhaps an offence should be created to guard against this, so that the political integrity of voter education can be protected.

Ms Mpumlwana replied that the attitude of these voter education officials has been good. There has not been a big outcry from the public with the current batch of field workers. They are trained properly, and it is made clear to them that they may not use or further their own political agendas. These measures are the most that the IEC can do and the political parties themselves have to monitor this and report any irregularities to the IEC. The IEC will then deal with those officials.

Mr I Pretorius (NNP) sought clarity on the 3,4 million South Africans that have street addresses, as indicated in the presentation. What kind of addresses does the remaining 16,2 million South African have, if they have one at all?

Adv Tlakula responded that the voter’s roll had listed 18 million South Africans, but the voter registration form only listed 16 million. The total 2 million South Africans constituting the deficit between these two totals could not be located by these forms. The IEC is thus saying that from the total 16 million South Africans only 3,4 million addresses have been registered. Thus the 3,4 million represents those people with street addresses.

Prince N Zulu (IFP) said he appreciated the work that has been one by the IEC. How has the IEC been received by the governing bodies of schools with which it has interacted?

Mr Moepya replied that the IEC consults the parties’ liaison committees at local level. This makes the IEC’s job easier when it has to interact with the school at a later stage. The pilot projects have, to date, been well received by the schools.

Mr I Mfundisi (UCDP) asked what would happen to the cross-boundaries in the 2004 election.

Adv Tlaluka responded that a Presidential Task Team has been set up to look at this matter. Its report and recommendations are expected by the end of July 2003.

A Member (ANC) noted that the presentation has indicated that teachers would be targeted as electoral officials for the 2004 elections. What measures will the IEC be putting in place to ensure that their absence from the classroom does not have a negative effect on the preparation for the October/November final examinations?

Adv Tlaluka replied that as she had stated during her presentation, the officials to be appointed will only be finalised in July 2003. This would include the voter education officials. The IEC will consider their availability and will consult the Department of Education. If the period for which they are needed is not suitable, then other persons and civil servants will be signed up.

Bishop L Tolo (ANC) stated that many administrative problems were experienced at the voting stations during the 2000 elections, such as persons not being on the list at their nearest voting station. The result was that many people did not vote. How will the IEC ensure that this does not happen again?

Mr S van der Merwe, IEC Commissioner, responded that the unfortunate reality of the matter is that this did happen often. This could have been due to administrative errors or simply because the person in question was not sure which voting station to vote at. The IEC has battled with this problem.

The IEC has introduced a “Section 7 procedure”, which addresses the situation in which the name of a person who is applying to be allowed to register in that district does not appear on its voter role. This procedure allows that person to submit an affidavit stating that they did apply for registration, which can usually be evidenced by producing the receipt of the registration. That person would then be allowed to vote in that district. However, this procedure is only included in the Municipal Electoral Act. The IEC will approach this Committee to consider its introduction in the provincial and national electoral acts as well.

The Chair stated that there does seem to be a problem with the IEC’s current preparations being based on the previous elections and its legislative framework. Yet there is a new electoral act being considered. How would this uncertainty as to which Act applies affect these preparations?

Mr van der Merwe acknowledged that the IEC is in a difficult position. It has to review the Electoral Act, but it is difficult to deal with this Act without knowing what will happen in the electoral system field in the near future. It was assumed that the Electoral Act would be revised in terms of the existing electoral system.

However, the IEC is not really happy with this situation. Before the IEC appeared before Parliament it should have had the benefit of at least knowing the parameters of the Electoral Systems Bill.

The Chair stated that that the proposed electoral bill will be handed over to the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee for consideration. This Committee will also be meeting with the Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice and Constitutional Development to advise Members on the way forward, because it is appreciated just how difficult it must be for the IEC to operate in this vacuum.

Chief K Morwamoche (ANC) stated that the IEC is the best section of the Department. Why are the district co-ordinators not permanent appointments?

Adv Tlakula responded that the IEC is struggling with this issue. It has considered setting up individual officers in all the municipalities, but this would simply be unaffordable. Instead an agreement was reached with municipalities that they would be the agents of the IEC at a local level, with the mayor of the municipality essentially being the electoral officer. It is thus the mayor that appoints the electoral staff, including the electoral co-ordinators, and they are therefore not the staff of the IEC. The mayor can therefore determine their conditions of service. The IEC is, however, looking at another model, but it does involve complex labour issues.

Chief Morwamoche asked how the municipalities are affected by the Crossing-of-the-Floor legislation, and how would they fit into the envisaged electoral process in light of this legislation?

Adv Tlakula replied that the certification of the crossing-of-the-floor legislation has not yet emerged, with the result that there is currently a gap in the legislation. This gap has arisen because the legislation provides that the IEC is authorised to administer elections in the municipalities, but it is silent on what happens if the election is not called by the municipality, or if the election is irregular. This has happened in the Limpopo Province, and the IEC is looking at how it can resolve this matter.

Update on Status of Immigration Act Regulations
Mr C Schravesande: Acting Chief Director, Migration, advised the Committee on the Immigration Act regulations.

In order to comply with the provisions of Section 7 of the Immigration Act, the Minister published his intention to adopt regulations on 14 March 2003 and called for comments. Subsequently the Minister, having considered the public comment, published draft regulations on 22 April 2003 again calling for comments. Comments must be in by 2 June 2003. Comments that are received in terms of the latter exercise will be considered by the Minister and, where he deems it necessary he will incorporate such comment in the final Regulations and at the same time comply with the rest of the requirements of Section 7 of the Act.

Discussion
The Chair asked at what point this Committee would play a role in this process.

Mr Schravesande responded that Section 7 provides the guidelines here. Should this Committee wish to amend any regulation or any part of any regulation, this would be welcomed by the Minister.

Chief Morwamoche asked when this Committee would be introduced to the new Director-General of the Department.

The Chair stated that this Committee is still waiting to hear of the appointment. He said that the Committee will commence its in-depth consideration of the regulations at the following meeting, so that it can make recommendations to the Minister.

Ms A Van Wyk (ANC) stated that this Committee also has to meet with the Immigration Board.

The Chair agreed. The Report on the Committee’s study tour to the Eastern Cape would also be adopted at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.