Kwazulu-Natal political parties have ramped up their campaign drives to convince people to register and vote ahead of the IEC’s final voter registration weekend next month.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) final voter registration ahead of the national general elections will be on February 3 and 4.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce the election date by official proclamation after consultation with the IEC, with the ballot date expected between May and August.
The ANC in KZN will start its election campaign programme from this weekend with provincial executive committee (PEC) members engaging with all structures, branches and regions.
The ANC has announced that it will launch its election manifesto at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on February 24.
Provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said they had activated all structures in the province and had put up billboards encouraging as many people as possible, especially the youth, to register and vote.
“Our manifesto launch will also take place next month and we will campaign with many events involving all provincial and some national leaders.
“Our PEC members will start to meet with all structures from this week,” Mndebele said.
The ANC will engage with all of its structures on Thursday (today) and will meet party members in the Josiah Gumede and General Gizenga Mpanza regions at the weekend.
The IFP will launch its election manifesto on March 10, also at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The party’s president, Velenkosini Hlabisa, said leaders had met this week to finalise the national plan and all campaign events.
The party this month will hold a meeting of its national council, and later an extended national council with about 600 leaders.
“We will then roll out our campaign in readiness for the elections and to drive voter awareness programmes ahead of the final voter registration weekend.
“The weekend of February 3 is the last opportunity to encourage the electorate, especially young potential voters, that they have a say in their government.”
Hlabisa said the party was waiting for the official announcement on the election date but would encourage those who were not registered and disgruntled to register, or continue to remain unhappy with the state of governance in the country.
“People must put in place a new government if they want their dream of a prosperous country to become a reality. This is a dream the IFP can deliver,” Hlabisa said.
The DA’s provincial leader, Francois Rodgers said the party had run a successful “Rock the Registration” campaign last year.
“We will continue with this as we are running a campaign around brand ambassadors which is targeting young people on social media to spread the message to register and to vote.
“We are going to continue with these campaigns which encourage people through youth-driven activities.”
Rodgers said the party’s premier candidate, uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas, had started with his visits to tertiary institutions on Tuesday, and this formed part of their campaign to encourage potential young voters to register.
The EFF will hold their manifesto launch at the Moses Mabhida stadium on February 10.
The party is hoping to have representatives at all voting districts in the province, and it will use the manifesto launch to reveal how many volunteers it had amassed in its attempt to canvass for votes.
The IEC’s chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said the electoral body was hoping for more first-time voters to register when it holds its final voter registration weekend.
Mamabolo said the registration weekend held in November was successful, with tens of thousands of new registrations.
“We think there are a lot more out there who have yet to be registered.
This is an additional opportunity for them to enlist on the voters roll.
“On February 3 and 4, over 22 000 voting stations will open between 8am and 5pm.”
Mamabolo said the opening of the voting stations offered the greatest opportunity for a registration outcome.
Last year, 2.9 million South Africans interacted with the commission during the weekend of November 18-19, with the majority of voters –2.7 million – visiting voting stations to register, as well as to update their details.
A total of 196 511 voters used the online portal to do the same.
The Mercury