The first foreign observers are expected to start arriving in South Africa on Thursday for the May 7 elections.
The African Union (AU) is dispatching a 53-member strong observer mission from the Pan African Parliament (PAP), human rights groups and civil society. The mission is led by former Ghanaian president John Kufuor.
Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it has already printed 31-million ballot papers for this year’s general elections.
It also says the delivery of the ballot papers inside and outside the country is already under way.
IEC Deputy Chairperson, Terry Tselane says they are ready for the poll.
Tselane says: “We have a pool of electoral expertise used over many years. This is a pool to deliver elections on quality of logistics.”
“We have done every little thing – we are done with production of ballot papers. In fact, we have already sent ballot overseas to allow South Africans living overseas to vote on special [voting day],” says Tselane.
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