X marks your voice on paper

LIMPOPO – THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Mopani district launched their School Democracy Programme aimed at preparing learners to uphold democracy through their votes.

The program is expected to run for one week from April 20-27 in all the 200 schools in the Mopani district.

Speaking at the event, Kulani Ramajela, IEC regional supervisor in the district, urged learners to register to vote as early as possible so that by the time they reached 18 years of age they would be able to vote.

“You must register as soon as you reach 16 years so that by the time you reach 18 years you would have already registered and just need to wait for an election day,” she said.

She said voting was very important in building a healthy democracy. “Remember that South Africa is rich in many resources, and in order for us to manage these resources we need to elect people that would both manage and deliver services on our behalf,” she said.

Steven Maringa, the manager for Man’ombe circuit, welcomed the initiative by the IEC saying this would instill voter knowledge in the youth and help them to build and uphold democracy in the country.

Also giving words of support, Jabulani Chabalala, who spoke on behalf of Giyani mayor, Pat Hlungwani, said teaching learners about the importance of voting should not be the responsibility of the IEC alone, and that councillors should also play their role in educating youth about what democracy was and why they should register to vote.

“Councillors should be at the forefront in upholding our democracy by holding gatherings which educate youth about the necessity of voting so that they grow up with the knowledge of what democracy is,” he said.

“We understand that it is sometimes difficult to encourage the born-free youth to register to vote, but we’re saying as a government, since they’re the future leaders we need to find a way to encourage them so that they would be able to uphold democracy when time comes,” he added.