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With only 102 days before the local government elections, the government has begun allocating “identifiers” or unique numbers to people who do not have conventional addresses.
These numbers are geographically identifiable with a specific reference, which means that they can be tracked by means of an electronic indicator (GPS) from a car or the internet, Vusi Madonsela, director-general of the of cooperative governance and traditional affairs department, told members of Parliament today.
With guidance from Statistics South Africa and the Post Office, a subcommittee was formerly appointed to investigate options and proposals in terms of allocating addresses to voters amid increasing concern about the absence of addresses on the voters’ roll.
The addresses of about 16 million South Africans who were registered before November 30 last year were missing from the voters’ roll or were incomplete.
Concerns were raised after the Electoral Court ordered in February that, where possible, the Independent Electoral Commission must indicate addresses on the voters’ roll. The Electoral Court also ruled in February that by-elections scheduled for Tlokwe in the North West had to be postponed because of continued uncertainty regarding the validity of the voters’ roll that did not have people’s addresses.
The IEC’s application for leave to appeal against the ruling would be heard in the Constitutional Court on May 9.
In its application, the IEC would ask for a period grace until 2020. It admitted in court documents that it would be impossible to have addresses for all voters by June, when the voters’ roll must be completed for the forthcoming local elections on August 3.
The department gave a presentation about its readiness local elections to the parliamentary portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
In answer to questions from committee members, Madonsela said that conventional addresses were available in four of the seven wards in Tlokwe.
The department had started allocating “identifiers” to residents of the three other wards in Tlokwe, which consisted of a “plethora” of informal settlements.
Madonsela said that these weren’t proclaimed areas, which meant that the deeds office wasn’t aware of their existence.
The numbers that were allocated to the head of the household were not referred to as addresses, Madonsela said.
“These identifiers would be used for voter registration, and also for other government purposes. We also believe these identifiers will enable the IEC to determine whether the people who are registering to vote are in fact ordinarily residents in the voting districts where they intend to cast their vote,” Madonsela said.
The plan was to roll out the project nationwide.
After the meeting, Madonsela said it would not be possible for this process to be completed quickly, and it would take longer than a few months.
He pointed out that the IEC estimated that its process to assign “addresses” to all voters would not be completed before 2020.
Areas that would hold by-elections would be given preference, said Madonsela.
Meanwhile, the department was looking forward to the judgment of May 9, which would provide guidance on the issue of addresses.
