CoGTA ready for local elections

Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen, briefed the media Wednesday afternoon on the department's state of readiness ahead of the Local Government Elections.

He explained they see no reason why the date would be postponed, regardless of the looming Constitutional Court battle over voter addresses.

Van Rooyen was specifically asked about the Tlokwe court judgment set to be delivered on 9 May and the possible impact it could have on a fiercely contested election

Van Rooyen said the judgment leaves them with less than four months to ensure free and fair elections, but they were confident the court would come to the correct decision.

"The IEC has indicated that 7.9 million voters are without formal addressed. You will remember that the first elections conducted in 1994 occurred without a voters' roll. There was no requirement to record voters' addresses on this roll," he said.

Van Rooyen said, in the meantime, they were already busy with efforts to verify the addresses of voters.

"Through this work of the inter-ministerial committee, a sub-committee led by Stats SA and the South African Post Office has already begun assigning geocoded identifiers to dwellers without addresses, especially in areas where there were supposed to be by-elections."

The minister was also thoroughly quizzed about his visit to Dubai in December - something that has raised questions in light of the Gupta family and their involvement in government. Van Rooyen remained tight lipped, arguing he had already responded.