“We have the people, skills and passion to deliver free and fair elections” said Mashinini.
The Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) is ready to delivery free and fair 2016 local government elections, commission’s chairperson Glen Mashinini said on Thursday.
Mashinini was speaking during the launch of the elections at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. He said the elections would once again test the IEC’s ability to ensure transparency in every voting process.
“We have the people, skills and passion to deliver free and fair elections,” said Mashinini.
“We have a strong legislative function which includes a regulated voters roll available to all political parties. We have a results system that has been certified by independent auditors.”
Mashinini said the IEC’s credibility in holding elections transparently was built in 1994 when south Africans first went to the polls to elect a democratic government. He appealed to the eligible voters to register and go out in big numbers to cast their votes on the election day.
Mashinini pointed out, however, that the IEC was facing some challenges caused by the refusal of some communities to accept the outcomes of the municipal demacation.
Speaking at the same event earlier, IEC’s chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya said taking a decision on the date of the elections was the prerogative of the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, David van Rooyen. He said the commission’s main target for registration for for the elections was the youth.
