Expect Ramaphosa’s announcement on election date within 15 days – Presidency

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce the date of the 2024 national and provincial elections within the next two weeks.

This is according to Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) previously indicated that elections could occur between May and August 2024, provided Ramaphosa issues a proclamation by February.

The determination of the election date rests with the president in consultation with the IEC.

South Africa is mandated by the Constitution to conduct elections within 90 days of the end of the term of the current Parliament, in May 2024.

Proclamation

Addressing the media on Wednesday, Magwenya confirmed that Ramaphosa would indeed reveal the date of this year’s elections this month.

“If you count from tomorrow, the president will announce the election within 15 days,” he said.

The Presidency spokesperson indicated that the president would issue a proclamation “soon after announcing” the election date.

“There shouldn’t be a lack between the time he announces and the time he proclaims. It all depends on his schedule on that particular day he will announce, but often we don’t have a huge lack between the announcement and the proclamation,” Magwenya said.

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He also stressed that the timing of his announcement was never expected at any specific point in time.

“There has to be an allowance of about 90 days to finalise preparations between the time the date is proclaimed and the actual date of elections so there’s no delay because there was never an agreed timeline as to when he will announce the date,” the Presidency spokesperson continued.

Furthermore, Magweya said Ramaphosa wasn’t worried about the possibility of interference with the elections as he regularly engaged with the Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster and the State Security Agency (SSA), which doesn’t have a director-general following Thembisile Majola’s resignation last year.

“Any concerns that the president might have will not be around whether the SSA is able to respond to threats that may face the country or not because there is stability in the agency.”

No election date at Sona

Asked why the president couldn’t announce the election date in Thursday’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), Magwenya highlighted the importance of this year’s event.

“Secondly, this State of the Nation Address is different and unique in so many ways. I think it is important it is allowed it’s own expression and that South Africans can take out the celebratory element of it. Remember we are marking 30 years of democratic dispensation.

“It is also the last State of the Nation Address under the sixth administration and so what you will have is a reflection over the past 30 years, coupled with an account of the work of the sixth administration in the last five years.

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“It is important to allow those key elements to be expressed as much as possible without adding any other issues. There’s no crisis insofar as the election date.

“There is anticipation, there is excitement and rightly so… we are a democracy but there is no delay because there was never an expectation of a particular time he would make the announcement,” he added.

Ramaphosa will deliver his Sona speech at the Cape Town City Hall, with more than 400 people expected to attend the annual event on Thursday evening.

At least R6.5 million has been budgeted for this year’s Sona.

Watch the briefing below:

Eligible voters

The IEC had targeted 39.7 million people for the elections, but only 27.4 million registered to vote.

In the 2019 national and provincial elections, the voters roll stood at 26.7 million eligible voters.

Voter turnout in 2019 was 66.05%. If there is a similar turnout, only 18 million people would have voted.

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