Sep 16, 2009

Afrikaner: Minister to Draft Overseas Voting Legislation


Active ImageAn announcement of the South African Minister of Home Affairs showed that President Zuma has reacted positively to the pressure which the FF+ placed on his party by taking the ANC government to court before the elections earlier this year by instructing her department to draw up legislation to ensure South African citizens living abroad will be allowed to vote in the country’s future elections. 

 

Below is an article published by The South African:

 

South African minister of Home Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has instructed her department to draw up legislation to ensure South African citizens living abroad will be allowed to vote in the country’s future elections.

Earlier this year, The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) initiated a court action to win South Africans the partial right to vote in their home country’s national elections. The FF+ took note of Dlamini-Zuma’s announcement.

Dr Corné Mulder, FF+ spokesperson on Home Affairs, said: “This announcement of the Minister of Home Affairs shows that President Zuma has reacted positively to the pressure which the FF+ placed on his party by taking the ANC government to court before the elections earlier this year.”

He said the FF+ was pleased with Dlamini-Zuma’s undertaking, and urged her to ensure the legislation was as inclusive as possible.

“Under the Mbeki government, the ANC defined the regulations for the participation of South Africans so narrowly that it allowed only a small group […] to cast their votes overseas.”

“The new legislation therefore has to give the necessary protection to all South Africans who want to cast their votes overseas,” Mulder said.