The Independent Electoral Commission in the Western Cape has started the process of registering awaiting trial prisoners and sentenced inmates at the Goodwood Correctional Centre. Some of them have voted before while others will be voting for the first time.
The IEC in the Western Cape says inmates have been given voter education before the two day voter registration which began at the Goodwood Correctional Centre on Tuesday.
Electoral Officer, Courtney Sampson, says inmates are also being given an opportunity to check if their names appear on the voters roll. He says the process has been running smoothly thus far.
“We have sent out a message that the voters roll can only be used for elections, no other department can come to us and say we need the voters roll to find out where this person or that person is. The voters roll in terms of the law is only for elections. That’s the important message to get out.”
Inmates at the facility have welcomed the opportunity to register.
“This is my first time. I’m so exited about it, I never vote in my life. I want to thank the department and the IEC to let us vote. It’s the first time I’m voting now. So exited to vote in the prison, thank you to the prison officials to help us to have our dreams.”
Western Cape Correctional Services Commissioner, Delekile Klaas says officials from the Department of Home Affairs will assist them to ensure that all inmates eligible to vote have ID documents. Klaas says they have experienced some challenges.
Some of them loss the Id’s, some of the don’t know where their ids are, but our working relationship with home affairs is also is a very good one. They are in some of our facilities today and tomorrow to issue temporal IDs but for offenders who applying for the second and third time must pay a fee of R160 which we have requested families, friends to pay.”
Klaas says the province has 29 900 inmates behind bars that are eligible to vote and they want to give them the opportunity to exercise their Constitutional right to vote.
Offenders at the Polokwane Correctional Centre have expressed delight at being granted the opportunity to register to vote.
The general public will register on Saturday and Sunday in the last registration window before the elections.
An offender, Joe Laka, believes his vote will make a difference.
“It’s very important to register in order to vote because my vote will count for what I want for my country. There’s been a new president. There’s lot of changes that has happened since he took over some months ago. Right now, he’s in the World Economic Forum in Davos looking around for some cash injections to revive the economy which was quite in some disastrous situation.”
