2021 local government elections, voter education and COVID-19 in South Africa
Posted: 28 October, 2021 Filed under: Paul Mudau | Tags: civic and voter education, civic responsibilities, COVID-19, CVE, democratic electoral processes, elections, fair elections, freedom of expression and of association, government performance, IEC, Independent Electoral Commission, local communities, local government, online platforms, participation, peace-building, service delivery, social media, South Africa, spoilt ballots, traditional media, voter education, voter participation, voter registration, voter turnout Leave a comment
Author: Paul Mudau
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law at the University of South Africa
Local government is the sphere of government that is closest to the people and represents the front line of service delivery. Holding competitive, periodic, inclusive and definitive elections at the local level strengthens democracy. The competitive component of local democratic elections indicates that political party and ward candidates may criticise the party or coalition that governs the municipality, and other party and ward candidates openly. They may suggest alternative policies and candidates to voters. Decisions of locally elected representatives directly affects the local communities. Failure to satisfy voters may result in the governing local public representatives being voted out of office in the next (periodic) elections. On the other hand, good performance often comes with a reward, getting re-elected into office. Thus, ideally, conditions at the local level forces and entices locally elected public officials to accounts to the needs of local communities.
The South African local government elections and the COVID-19 pandemic
Posted: 20 September, 2021 Filed under: Tariro Sekeramayi | Tags: 2021, African Charter, African Court, Constitution of South Africa, COVID-19, democracy, Dikgang Moseneke, elections, electoral process, fairness, free and fair election, IEC, Independent Electoral Commission, Moseneke Report, municipal elections, pandemic, registration, South Africa, South African Local Government Elections, transparency, voting 1 Comment
Author: Tariro Sekeramayi
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
South Africa’s local government elections, to elect the municipal tier of government, are constitutionally mandated through section 159 of the Constitution of South Africa to take place every five years. These elections were scheduled to take place towards the end of 2021 and have been the subject of great deliberation in the nation. Conducting elections during a pandemic has been the subject of much debate on the continent and worldwide, with certain countries choosing to continue with elections amid the pandemic and others choosing to postpone their elections amid concerns of the risks involved. Nations on the continent that have held elections during the pandemic include Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire. Given the extent of the risks of holding elections during the pandemic and mixed calls on whether to postpone or continue with elections in the nation, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa ordered an inquiry commission to determine the nation’s capacity to hold free, fair elections during the initially scheduled period in October.
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