Dainfern College learners mimic elections

To educate and prepare the next generation of voters, Dainfern College conducted mock elections in preparation for the national elections. The event aimed to teach learners about South Africa’s election process and the importance of voting.

At the start of the process, each mentor group formed a political party and created a party manifesto highlighting how they would address issues that affect the citizens of the country.

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These topics were infrastructure development, energy concerns, water concerns, healthcare, security, education, unemployment, and housing.

Each group elected a president and vice president of their ‘party’ who then presented the manifesto, in a speech, to the Grade 7 students. The winning group from each of the four classes was deemed to have collected enough support to appear on the Dainfern Electoral Commission ballot.

After a short briefing on the electoral process in South Africa, the presidents of the four parties who made the ballot gave a short recap of their position. Students were issued their student cards and off they went to the polls.

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The polling station was set up in Karen Da Costa’s classroom. The students entered the room, had their student cards checked, and were crossed off the voter’s roll (class list). They then had their thumb marked by a poll worker and were given their ballot. They cast their private/secret vote and placed it in the ballot box.

In a close race, they ended up with a hung parliament with two parties each gaining six seats, with the remaining two getting five and four each.

The Dainfern Electoral Commission was satisfied that the election was free and fair, with few, if any, irregularities.

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