The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday said it is throwing its full weight behind the campaign to make sure that every eligible voter is registered to vote in next year’s national and provincial elections.
Cosatu, which is in a tripartite alliance with the ruling African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, contended that it would be a tragedy if the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of this breakthrough were to be tarnished by large numbers of people being denied the democratic right to vote that were fought so hard to win.
The union federation said hundreds campaigned, fought and even sacrificed their lives to win democracy, yet it is estimated that as many as nine million potential voters are not at present registered and could lose their right to play their part in the democratic process.
According to the union, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal each have more than two million people that still need to register.
The trade union added that particularly worrying was the estimate that 57% of the unregistered voters are under 40.
“The young have most to gain from a democratic future, yet hundreds of thousands of them could risk losing any say over how that future will be shaped.”
Cosatu said the most urgent task is to make sure that all its trade union members, their families and friends possess an ID document in time for the closing date for registration and then get themselves registered.
The date for registration is currently November 8 and 9, but it is hoped that the time can be extended in order to maximise the opportunity for people to register.
The union said the drive to get people registered could not be left solely to the Independent Electoral Commission, though it must be pressured to step up its publicity campaign.
Cosatu said the trade unions would be mobilising all their members to raise the question of registration in the workplace and door-to-door in the communities. — I-Net Bridge