More than 53 000 Identification Documents (ID) are yet to be collected by Western Cape residents. This was revealed in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on Friday, May 21. 49 573 ID Smart Cards and 3 164 Green ID Books are waiting for collection at Home Affairs offices across the province, while 34 are waiting for collection at banks.
This revelation comes after the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Standing Committee on Local Government and Premier & Constitutional Matters was briefed by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the national Department of Home Affairs on the state of election-readiness in the province.
The IEC indicated that they are prepared for the upcoming local government elections which are provisionally set for October 27.
However, with the massive amounts of ID’s that need to be collected, residents are urged to visit their local banks and Home Affairs offices so that they can have their voices heard when up to 3 million voters make their way to the polls in the province.
In a statement, DA Western Cape Spokesperson for Premier and Constitutional Matters, Ricardo Mackenzie says the IEC needs to embark on extensive communication campaigns to alert voters of the need to register or have their registration details updated on the voter registration weekend on July 17 and 18.
Mackenzie indicated, due to financial constraints, only one voter registration weekend will be held which limits the opportunities for residents to register.
Spokesperson Local Government, Derrick America, added that the IEC has contingency plans in place for possible load shedding that may occur and that, since the last local elections in 2016, the capturing of complete addresses have increased from 34% to 93.8%.
“The IEC is fighting back against disinformation through a mobile application which will be launched at the end of May in partnership with Media Monitoring Africa,” America said.
Meanwhile, after 22 years of service as the Western Cape Provincial Chairperson for the Independent Electoral Commission, Reverend Courtney Sampson called quits on his illustrious career.
The 65-year-old Anglican priest, who was appointed in 1999, has overseen five national and provincial elections as well as four municipal elections. Sampson will be succeeded by Michael Hendricks who has previously served as a senior manager on electoral matters in the IEC’s national office, IOL reported.
Picture: Cape Town Etc gallery