PREMIER Supra Mahumapelo said that government will do its best to assist Tlokwe residents have addresses so that they can vote without difficulties.

Mahumapelo said that government entities like Sassa, local government and human settlements and social development departments will assist the provincial electoral commission (IEC) to get necessary addresses before the August 3 elections.

The IEC was ordered to correct its voters roll for Tlokwe following a court challenge that threatened to mar the local government elections.

“We want fair, honest and free elections. So we will assist IEC to get required addresses for our voters. The constitutional court ordered that the local government elections should go ahead as scheduled.

“However, the same court ordered the IEC to rectify address issues in Tlokwe. We want to make sure that the elections run smoothly with no hindrances. We have entrusted IEC and we believe is the independent body. We will make sure the integrity of the authority is protected and restored. It is one of the most important institutions in our country,” Mahumapelo said.

Ndependent candidates in Tlokwe took the IEC to court after the 2013 by-elections complaining of vote rigging and bussing in of people from other wards.

They alleged that the ANC ferried people with buses to vote for the party and results of the by-elections in affected areas were then nullified.

The Electoral Court had given a judgment that required the IEC to get addresses of all registered voters and this led to all pending by-elections getting frozen. Danger was that even the August 3 elections could be flawed if the IEC used the same voters roll.

The IEC then filed an application with the Constitutional Court in April, asking it to set aside an Electoral Court ruling which it said could see millions of people disqualified from voting. The court ruled that elections will go ahead but the IEC had to do the necessary corrections.

IEC provincial chairperson, Dr Tumelontle Thiba said they are busy with training to their staff. She said they will embark on a quest to get addresses from close to 25 000 voters in Tlokwe.

“We are providing a necessary training to our field workers. Later on they will visit voters to engage with them. However our offices will be opened on Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 5pm.

“The objective is to assist those registered voters to verify their addresses. We want to be ready for local government come August 3. So far everything is running smoothly with no hindrance,” Thiba said.

Independent candidates’ representative, David Kham said they welcomed the Concourt ruling.

“We welcome the ruling by Concourt. This is instils trust into our justice system. We want to see fair, honest and free elections prevailing. So the IEC needs to do what is right. We do not want to have a situation where illegitimate voters be voting in wrong wards,” Kham said.

-TDN

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