Ex-miners snub voter registration
Onalenna Kelebeile | Friday November 16, 2018 13:29
This is attributed to disgruntled residents of the town since the BCL Mine closed two years ago. Residents have blatantly stated in various Kgotla meetings that they were not going to register to vote because nobody, including government cared about their welfare.
These statements were more pronounced in the BCL locations where a majority of ex-miners stay. Some have been saying that they see no need to register in Selebi-Phikwe because their lease agreement with BCL on housing will lapse at the end of January thereby will be relocating. Though quite a significant population of ex-mine employees and their dependents have left the town, a sizeable number is still around and occupying the mine’s houses. Still, more are likely to leave as the retrenchment exercise on those who are still on care and maintenance is ongoing this month.
The Independent Electoral Commission have confirmed that both constituencies have been registering extremely low numbers as compared to previous registrations. Some polling stations would go for three days without registering even a single person. In the last general elections, Selebi-Phikwe West registered 10,233 voters including during the supplementary registration while Selebi-Phikwe East registered 9,739 voters in the same period.
Election officer, Sadie Ontiretse said they only experienced an increased number of eligible voters in the last two days of registration that forced them to extend registration time to cater for those who had arrived well before closing time. “Some of the residents told us during our meetings with them that they cannot register because they are not sure if they would still be here next year. We encouraged them that they can transfer their vote once they relocate,” she said. She added that they encouraged them more so that it was not a given that there would be a supplementary registration exercise because it was a costly undertaking and depended on the reasons brought before the IEC.
She was disappointed that though this time the registration period was longer as compared to previous elections, the numbers that have registered do not match or justify that. Ontiretse, however, said that the ongoing sensitisation of the community to participate in the elections has been ongoing since the last general elections and that they have been to various workshops, Kgotla meetings, government departmental morning briefings as well as wellness briefs. She added that they erected public stalls as well as addressing people at health facilities.
She said that they were overwhelmed by cases of voter-trafficking by some candidates though they were addressed internally. She was happy that polling officers were trained enough to quickly identify such cases.
“We were mostly assisted by the registration forms that voters had to fill in their names and contacts to trace those who we learnt were trafficked, but managed to vote. We were then able to make follow-ups and they surrendered their registration cards and went to register at their designated polling stations,” she said. She also said that numbers were still to be reconciled to determine the age and gender groups that registered the most. She noted that they were ready for the general elections except that they are disappointed with the low number of eligible voters that they registered.