South Africa

Articles about voting issues in the Republic of South Africa.

Motlanthe calls for a political solution to the ANCYL problem | Mail & Guardian Online

Feb 112012
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Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has called for a political solution to the ANC Youth League leadership’s disciplinary woes. Speaking at the league’s lekgotla, being held in Centurion this weekend, Motlanthe said “There is no need that at any given point the relations between the ANC Youth League and the mother body should be fractured.” Youth league president Julius Malema and his deputies are still engaged in a disciplinary hearing with the ANC. They were found guilty of sowing divisions within the mother body and bringing the party into disrepute. Malema received a five-year suspension from the party’s National Disciplinary Committee but has been given leave to argue in mitigation of his sentence. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: Julius Malema

No electronic voting in 2014 | East Coast Radio

Nov 122011

The Independent Electoral Commission says it is not planning on rolling out an electronic voting system in our country for the next national elections. The Commission’s Mosotho Moepya says South Africans will still stand in queues to vote at the 2014 general elections.

He has been speaking to Newswatch after the Commission revealed it has commissioned a study to look at the advantages of electronic voting. Moepya says they are just trying to find out if South Africa has any challenges in its voting process that can be addressed through electronic voting. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: electronic voting, Independent Electoral Commission

South Africa's ANC suspends youth leader Julius Malema | BBC News

Nov 102011
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South Africa’s governing ANC has suspended youth leader Julius Malema from the party for five years. He was found guilty of bringing the party into disrepute and asked to step down as youth league president. Once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mr Malema has become one of his strongest critics, accusing him of ignoring poor South Africans who helped bring him to power in 2009. The BBC’s Milton Nkosi says the verdict boosts Mr Zuma’s re-election bid. Mr Malema wants Mr Zuma replaced as party leader ahead of the 2014 elections, but our correspondent says it is now difficult to see how Mr Malema can affect the ANC leadership contest next year.

Mr Malema has said he will appeal against the ANC’s decision to suspend him, reports eTV news. Mr Malema has 14 days to appeal, but was already suspended for his statements on Zimbabwe and so must vacate his position as Youth League leader immediately. After Mr Malema’s suspension, an ANC spokesperson said: “Disciplinary procedures are not meant to end anybody’s political career, they are meant to correct behaviour.” Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: ANC, Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema, re-election

Banned Swazi opposition slams SA bailout | News24

Aug 062011

Swaziland’s banned opposition criticised on Thursday South Africa’s decision to grant the monarchy a $355m bailout before first requiring democratic reform, including allowing political parties. South Africa announced on Wednesday a R2.4bn ($355m) loan to neighbouring Swaziland on condition that King Mswati III opens talks on reforms in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

The People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) said it was disappointed South Africa had not heeded calls from Swazi activists to withhold the loan until Mswati agreed to allow political parties, banned in 1973. Activists including Pudemo have also called for a transitional government to pave the way for elections within four years. Read More »

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South Africa, Swaziland Comments Off Topics: ballot access

Disappointment at South African election gender figures | News24

Jun 292011

The drop in the representation of women in local government confirms the need for laws on increasing the number of women in decision-making positions, the Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities said on Tuesday.

“The ministry is disappointed at the decline in the percentage of women as councillors in the country from 40% in 2006 to 38% after the 2011 local government elections,” the department read.

According to Gender Links research and advocacy organisation, which analysed representation at the May local government elections, in 1995 representation of women in local government was at 19% overall; 29% in 2000; 40% in 2006 and then dropped two percentage points to 38% for May 2011. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: women's vote

Independent Electoral Commission dismisses vote-rigging claims in South Africa Free State | SABCNews

Jun 082011

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Free State has once more dismissed allegations that votes were rigged at ward 10 in Tseki village, in Qwaqwa, in the eastern part of the province.

The final results of the elections revealed that the ANC had won two of the three polling stations in the Tseki village.

The Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA) claimed there were irregularities in the vote count saying that extra ballot papers were smuggled into one of the polling stations. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: audit, election fraud, vote rigging

South African local election voting goes smoothly | M&Cnews

May 182011

Voting in municipal elections proceeded smoothly across South Africa on Wednesday, even in hotly contested districts, where a rising opposition party is hoping to make gains.
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Some minor glitches occurred in parts of Johannesburg and in the far north, including several polling machines that did not function and one station that was damaged overnight in a fire. Read More »

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South Africa: Ready for your vote | Times LIVE

May 172011

Tomorrow is election day and the country will become a network of hope, change and unity. To make sure that each of the 23.5-million votes cast will count – literally at least – there are three people and their teams who have been working tirelessly. They are Libisi Maphanga, the chief information officer for the Independent Electoral Commission, and his ICT heads Mervin Naidoo and Melanie du Plessis.

Naidoo, responsible for IT operations and Du Plessis, responsible for business systems, rattle off staggering numbers related to the setup. “There are actually 278 different elections [one for each municipality] taking place in the country tomorrow at 20859 voting stations,” says Du Plessis. Then there are 200000 staff who have to be managed, 70.5-million ballot papers to be printed, and distributed and the multimillion votes which have to be counted, captured and audited before we all hear the results. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: audit, paper ballot

South Africa Independent Electoral Commission ponders e-votes | ITWeb

May 132011

As the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) gears up for about 20 million South Africans to make their cross next Wednesday, electronic voting could be in the pipeline as the commission is pondering the seemingly futuristic technology.

More than 23 million people are registered to vote in this year’s municipal elections, and the IEC has printed 70.5 million ballot papers, for the first time printing the sheets in colour. Previously, only national election ballots were printed in colour. Read More »

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South Africa Comments Off Topics: e-voting, electronic voting, voting machine
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