 |
| Welcome to BuaNews, the gateway to quick and fresh government news and information |
| Home | Today's stories | This week's stories | Last week's stories | Other Features | International News | User policy |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System Date: 09 Nov 2008 Title: Motlanthe urges South Africans to register to vote -------------------- By Nthambeleni Gabara Pretoria - President Kgalema Motlanthe has urged South Africans to visit their nearest voting stations in large numbers to register for the 2009 national and provincial elections. Speaking to reporters before re-registering in his new voting district in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality on Saturday, the President said he was excited for the 2009 elections. "With 143 political parties registered and the performance of America's President-Elect Barack Obama, we hope that South Africans will come in large numbers to register for the upcoming elections," he said. The President said it was crucial that South Africans both young and old register to cast their ballot next year. Mr Motlanthe was received at the voting station in Hatfield by the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) Chairperson, Brigalia Bam, her deputy Thoko Mpumlwana and IEC Chief Electoral Officer, Advocate Pantsy Tlakula. According to Adv Tlakula more than 180 000 potential voters had visited the Commission's website by midday on Friday. "The IEC was probably the most visited website at that moment. We received ordinary hits in excess of 46 000 people who were just visiting our website. "Over 101, 000 people visited our website to enquire whether they were registered to vote and 37 000 more people asked where they should go and register," she said, adding that the numbers were growing by the hour. After a surge in internet usage by people wishing to enquire about their registration to vote in next year's election clogged the server and the call centre, the IEC pleaded with South Africans to be patient. The IEC was still faced with a challenge of cross-browser compatibility since their current website cannot handle any other browser than the Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, it has ensured the public that this problem would be solved within the next two months. The IEC further received thousands of Short Message Services (SMSs) from people wishing to check their registration details. Potential South African voters were advised to SMS their ID number to 32810 or to visit the IEC website www.elections.org.za and enter their ID numbers. "There was a time when we were receiving more than 1 800 SMS requests simultaneously. "More than 53 000 SMSs were answered in 24 hours and 43 000 of the 77 000 requests were responded on Friday morning," she said. Adv Tlakula said the IEC was also addressing the fact that the Commission was receiving more calls than its capacity to handle them and it would be doubling it resources. "Further additional capacity will be in place during the course of tomorrow (Saturday). "We are grateful that people are using our internet facility and call centre (0800 11 8000). " She said business hours for the Call Centre for this weekend will be from 7am to 9pm. "We are pleading for patience as we deal with the high volume of visits and requests for information," Adv Tlakula said. According to Ms Bam the IEC was pleased that all voting stations across the country opened on time and were fully operational. "We still want to urge South Africans to visit their nearest voting stations to check their registration details as well as to register or re-register if they have moved to a new area," Ms Bam said. - BuaNews |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
