ActionSA has called on all political parties to safeguard the integrity of the May 29th national elections.
ActionSA spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni was speaking at a multi-party event that the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation hosted in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Political parties that were present, were given an opportunity to remember the late Kathrada and recommit to free and fair elections.
Ngobeni says safeguarding elections requires vigilance.
“We must reaffirm our commitment to safeguarding the integrity of our electoral process. Free and fair elections are not only a ritual, they are the lifeblood of our democracy and the mechanism in which people’s voices are heard and their will is expressed.
But safeguarding the execution of free and fair elections requires more than just casting ballots. It requires vigilance. Transparency and our commitment to upholding the principles of democracy at every turn. It requires to confront the forces of corruption and intimidation and the disenfranchisement that seek to undermine the very foundation of our democracy.”
An unprecedented number of contestants will be vying for seats in the May 29 elections.
Close to 15 000 people have been nominated to contest a total of 887 seats in the National Assembly and all nine provincial legislatures.
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Gauteng leads the pack by far with the highest number of contestants. This was revealed by the IEC as it published lists of political party candidates and independents for inspection and objections.
The race for the national and provincial polls will be congested due to the high number of political parties and independents, jostling for a place at the finishing line.
The spread of the candidates is as follows: 4 323 candidates have been nominated to contest the compensatory seats in the National Assembly which is only contested by political parties on a closed list basis, meaning 21 political parties are vying for a seat on average.
Meanwhile, 3 596 candidates have been nominated to contest the regional seats in the National Assembly. These seats are contested by political parties and independents, resulting in an average of 18 contestants per seat.
According to the IEC, the biggest regional election ballot will be in the Gauteng region, with 40 political parties and two independent candidates.
–Sibahle Motha–
