Media Statement
29 April 2014
Voting at SA missions abroad to proceed as planned
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation is satisfied that all necessary arrangements have been made for South Africans living abroad to exercise their democratic right to vote in the 2014 General Elections.
Following the Presidential assent to the Electoral Amendment Act No. 18 of 2013 and the publication of amendments to the Regulations on the Registration of Voters, the Department collaborated with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to register South Africans living outside of the country as voters.
Chapter 3 of the election regulations, dealing with special votes, has been revised to accommodate voting by South African citizens abroad. It requires registered voters who will not be in South Africa on Election Day (including those who registered outside of the country) to notify the Chief Electoral Officer of the IEC of their intention to apply to cast their ballot at a South African diplomatic mission. Notifications of intention to apply for a special vote are made online via the IEC’s website (www.elections.org.za) using a VEC10 form which has been available since the President of the Republic proclaimed the election date as per the law. Online applications should have been made within 15 days of the proclamation. This information has been previously communicated jointly by the IEC and DIRCO in a statement issued on the 7th of January 2014 (http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/2014/iec0107.html).
The Department is satisfied that it has made the necessary information and infrastructure available for the IEC to carry out its constitutional mandate of managing the electoral process. The Department has at all times, and with the requisite urgency, disseminated information from the IEC regarding the conduct of elections to all our missions for further dissemination to South African citizens. We are encouraged that South Africans living abroad have responded in large numbers and will be voting on the 30th of April 2014.
Enquiries: Mr Clayson Monyela, 082 884 5974
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
OR Tambo Building
460 Soutpansberg Road
Rietondale
Pretoria
0084
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