Question NW3705 to the Minister of Home Affairs
04 December 2017 - NW3705
Waters, Mr M to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(1)Whether her department is taking steps to ensure that there are more voting stations situated at overseas venues, where a sufficient number of South Africans live and are registered; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what has she found to be the number of citizens that constitutes a sufficient number?
Reply:
1. Yes. In respect of registration of voters and voting arrangements outside of the Republic, the Electoral Commission works in partnership with the Department of International Relations & Co-operation (DIRCO). Section 33(3) and 33(4) of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998 presently limit points of voting outside the Republic to embassies, high commissions and consulates. This is so because the Electoral Commission is dependent on DIRCO’s available human resources and related infrastructure for registration and voting arrangements outside of the Republic. In the meantime, the Electoral Commission has undertaken a review of procedures for voting outside the Republic in national elections following the 2014 national elections, and plans to approach DIRCO for the consideration of the possible expansion of the number of voting facilities outside of the Republic for the 2019 national elections, where diplomatic missions proved to be inadequate.
2. The operational details of this proposition including the threshold for number of registered voters per voting facility outside of the Republic are yet to be discussed and determined.