Prisoners head to court over IDs
JOBURG - Prisoners who want to vote but cannot afford identity documents have resorted to court action to address their plight.
The Independent Electoral Commission has made provisions for prisoners to vote in the upcoming general elections by posting mobile voting stations at 238 prisons across the country.
However, not having an identity document could exclude some prisoners from the voting process.
The New Age reported that in a notice of motion, the prisoners requested that they be excluded from paying the Department of Home Affairs the required fee of R70 to R120 for obtaining or renewing identity documents.
The prisoners were represented by the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights.
Speaking to the newspaper, the prisoners’ lawyer Legodi Boale said home affairs should make special provision for prisoners to vote.
“We brought this application for prisoners to be afforded their right to vote as entrenched in the Constitution… the minister of home affairs is requesting that they pay to get documentation,” he said.
“We are saying these are incarcerated people with no remuneration… so if you are telling prisoners that they must pay, you are substantially telling them not to vote.”
The Department of Home Affairs said it was unable to comment on the matter at this time and directed questions to the commission.
However, the commission could not be reached for comment.
