By David Masango

1 March, local government election day, has been declared a public holiday to allow voters to cast their votes.

The holiday was declared in terms of section 2A of the Public Holidays Act No 36 of 1994, the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement on Friday, 27 January.

The department also expressed its "firm view" that the declaration of the election day as a public holiday would enable voters "to exercise their democratic right to vote as enshrined in our Constitution".

"Voting in elections is a fundamental and hard-won right and citizens have a responsibility to exercise it and keep our democracy strong. The progress that freedom has brought can be sustained and extended only if all of us use our democratic right to participate in shaping our country," said the statement.

It emphasised that participation was the lifeblood of democracy and "the only way to ensure continued progress in building a country that truly belongs to all."

Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it is ready to administer free, fair and transparent local government elections.

It is currently in the process of certifying the candidates' list and would soon print nearly 4 200 different ballots for the 284 municipalities countrywide.

This week the majority of the country's political parties signed the Electoral Code of Conduct, committing themselves to good conduct during the municipal elections.

The code of conduct is aimed at promoting conditions that are conducive to free and fair elections, including tolerance of democratic political activity, free political campaigning and open public debate.

The code guides the contestants' behaviour as competition mounts while it also explicitly states the consequences and sanctions should parties or individuals breach the code.

It lists all prohibited conduct so that all parties are aware of the dos and the don'ts. It also offers protection to contestants, voters and all role players in an election.

The IEC announced that on election day, voting would take place from 7am until 7pm as people would not be travelling long distances to vote, thanks to the increase in the number of voting stations to19 000.

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Source: BuaNews