Thank you very much for the motivating article which you wrote in the Mpumalanga News (17th October 2013). The message in the article was clear enough and young people should heed it and start participating in all matters civic.
I guess I will be speaking for the majority if I say Mpumalanga is proud to have young, inspirational leaders like you, who take interest in Electoral and Democracy matters. Civic and Democracy education can never be separated as it is intertwined and one feeds from the other.
We cannot have Democracy if we are not part of the decisions taken in our communities hence participation in local structures is one of the basic Civic duties that we, as young people, owe to the democracy and freedom of this country.
Yes Hlengiwe, you are very much correct when you say Akufani. Young people should be encouraged to attend community meetings and volunteer in local structures if we really want to see Democracy working. Complaining and doing nothing has never solved any problem.
Next year’s Elections will be a celebration of our 20 years of Democracy. The “Born frees”, as they are called, are encouraged to join the “old-timers” who voted during the first Democratic Elections in 1994 by first registering as voters.
On November 9 and 10, all Voting Stations in the Province and around the country will be opened for Registration. This is a project by the Electoral Commission called “Registration Weekend”. It aims to ensure that people are given an opportunity to register their names in order to appear in the National Voters Roll.
Young people who are 16 years old and over (you can only vote when you are 18 years or older) are implored to visit their respective voting stations in their Voting Districts to register to be eligible to vote in the 2014 National and Provincial Elections.
All stations will be opened from 08H00 in the morning and will close at 17H00 in the afternoon. Those who were registered but have since relocated, must re-register in their new Voting Districts in which they now reside. You can also go there to check if your name still appears on the Voters Roll just to be sure. Please take you friend along and make sure that they are not left behind.
The Electoral Commission is also available on these social media platforms: web:- www.elections.org.za, twitter:- @IECSouthAfrica, youtube:- www.youtube.com/user/IECSouthAfrica