kougademocrat

The majority of votes cast on the provincial ballot in Kouga were in favour of the Democratic Alliance.

48 % of voters (18 671) voted for the DA, who governs the Municipality in Kouga, after winning the 2016 Local Government Election.

The ANC, who are the only other party represented in the Kouga Council, gained 42 % of the vote (16 332).

None of the smaller parties managed to gain more than 4 % of the vote, indicating that Kouga remains an area dominated by the two big parties in South African politics.

While the IEC has not yet completed counting the votes, the ANC has won the Eastern Cape with around 68 % of the vote with the DA winning around 16 %.

The DA has retained the Western Cape province and will be the official opposition in the Free State, Gauteng and the Northern Cape.

The DA is also the biggest opposition party in South Africa with close to 23 % of the vote at time of publication.

The DA has served on the IEC over 2000 procedural objections, and a demand for an audit of votes cast on 8 May, and special votes cast on Monday on Tuesday.

Our demand is that the IEC must audit the numbers of ballot cast, against the crossed off voters’ rolls, and VEC 4 forms, to determine that the number of ballots cast is legitimate, and no double-voting has taken place.

This audit is necessitated by an overwhelming number of procedural errors committed by the IEC over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from ink washing off, to VEC4 forms being overlooked, to multiple voting.

We anticipate that the IEC will complete this audit, and present the outcome, before declaring the Election results on Saturday. We reserve our rights to formally challenge the results if the audit reveals serious issues.

Additionally, we have learned tonight that numerous very small parties have filed a formal objection to the Election process, with the IEC. This has the potential, depending on the IEC response, to delay the finalization of the Election results, which we are closely monitoring.

For absolute clarity, the DA is not at this stage part of the formal objection, but we are independently seeking a Vote Audit and thereafter we may enter into a formal objection.

Let me again thank all DA structures who worked with passion, commitment, dedication and tirelessness throughout this campaign. We are well on track to build One South Africa for All, in a project that must continue toward Election 2021.

This election is undoubtedly our most important election since 1994, with South Africa balancing dangerously on a knife-point with issues of crime, corruption, state capture, unemployment and immeasurable poverty.

When we cast our ballots today, we need to remind ourselves of the heartfelt suffering of millions of our fellow citizens, whose lives have not improved, and have in fact worsened, under the rule of the failing ANC.

This will no doubt be a watershed election. The governing party has had 25 years to better the quality of the lives of our people, but they have instead chosen to prioritize the looting of the people’s money for their own selfish enrichment.

It is with this in mind that the DA would like to implore people to be brave at the ballot box, and give change a chance.

The ANC has brought our beautiful country to its knees through 25 years of failures and broken promises. And when they notice that we are no longer satisfied with their theft and deceit, they choose to divide us along racial lines – much like the apartheid government did.

Only the DA can bring true, tangible change South Africans so desperately need and deserve – with an honest and professional police service, a job in every home, faster service delivery, secure borders and a 15-year jail sentence for anyone found guilty of corruption.

The DA is the only party that can build One South Africa for All – with 10 years of good governance experience we have proven this.

We are asking for more voters to be brave and give change a chance.

We wish all voters clarity, confidence and bravery, as they make a mark next to the DA, a political party they know they can trust to bring real change.

South Africans are heading for the polls on 8 May 2019. Our country is at a cross roads and corruption has ensured that many South Africans have yet to enjoy the benefits of democracy.

Where the DA governs, we govern well and in Kouga, service delivery has vastly improved since 2016 and the financial position of Kouga Municipality is stable.

Housing projects have been unlocked in Humansdorp and Jeffreys Bay while land has even been bought by the DA led Kouga Municipality to facilitate future housing developments.

Here are more reasons to vote DA on 8 May and bring change to the rest of South Africa.

1. One-party dominance is failing SA. Our democracy urgently needs a strong alternative. We must build this at the centre of our politics and society. This is where the DA is located.

2. The DA is the only sizable party that stands for the rule of law and a market-driven economy.

3. DA is the only party with a solid track record in government. No other party on the national list has demonstrated its ability to run a national or provincial government efficiently and honestly.

4. 15 out of the 20 best-run municipalities in SA are DA-led. (Source Good Governance Africa’s Governance Performance Index 2019.)

5. DA-led Western Cape is SA’s top-performing province for financial stability and governance. (Source: Ratings Afrika’s Municipal Financial Stability Index 2019)

6. DA-led Western Cape has the lowest broad unemployment: 23% compared with SA average of 37%. (Source: StatsSA QLFS)

7. DA-led Western Cape achieves the best basic education outcomes – highest retention of children in school until end of matric. Retained 63% of kids in 2018. All other provinces retained under 50%. Highest real matric pass rate.

8. DA-led Western Cape achieves the best health outcomes. Life expectancy is the highest in the country, has increased by a projected 7 years since DA took over in 2009. And 90% of people live within 30 minutes of a clinic.

9. DA-led Western Cape success rate of land reform farms is 72%, compared to 10% success rate for SA as a whole.

10. DA-led Midvaal municipality is the only municipality in Gauteng to come in the top-20 best-run municipalities in SA. (Source Good Governance Africa’s Governance Performance Index 2019.) Has achieved 5 consecutive years of clean audits. (Source: Auditor General)

11. DA-led Western Cape has by far the best track record in spending public money on the public. Achieved 83% clean audits with Gauteng coming a distant second at 52% (Source: Auditor General’s report for 2017/18.)

12. Cape Town is SA’s best-run metro. (Source: Ratings Afrika’s Municipal Financial Stability Index 2019)

Hankey was blue yesterday as the Democratic Alliance held a rally in the town which included a march through the suburbs and ended with a mass town hall meeting.

Close to 1000 people gathered near the Spar in Hankey to march with Member of Parliament Malcolm Figg, Kouga Mayor Horatio Hendricks as well as other Kouga Councillors.

The march ended up in Stofwolk after being joined by hundreds more people and being escorted by the local Police and Traffic Department.

At the town hall meeting, Mayor Horatio Hendricks said that the DA is the only party for all South Africans and the only party with a proven track record in governance that ensured better service delivery to all South Africans.

“The DA led Kouga Municipality is rolling out wheelie bins to all residents of Hankey so that the collection of waste and rubbish can be done more effectively,” said Hendricks.

“We are installing bulk infrastructure to be able to build more houses for the poor and have even bought land in Humansdorp and Thornhill to facilitate future housing developments,” added Hendricks.

The DA will make sure a national government prioritizes an honest, professional Police Force that protects the residents of South Africa said Member of Parliament Malcolm Figg who also addressed the crowd at the Vasumzi Landu Hall in Hankey.

“We cannot continue with a national government under the ANC that just steals the money and doesnt deliver services to all South Africans,” said Figg.

The National and Provincial election takes place on 8 May 2019.

To check if you are registered to vote, send an sms to 32810 or visit Check DA

Due to constant assaults on their posters, the Democratic Alliance has announced a cash reward of R 50 000 for information on poster defacement, removal or interference, when such information leads to successful prosecution of the offender.

“Many of our posters, across the province, are being removed by criminal elements,” said DA Provincial chairperson Andrew Whitfield.

“Last month we were informed of an EFF activist allegedly removing our posters and burning them.

He was later arrested and appeared in court. It is a criminal offence to interfere with a party’s election posters in any way.

The Independent Electoral Commission has made it clear that, according to the electoral code of conduct, defacing political posters is one of the most serious offences,” said Whitfield.

If any person is found guilty of committing such crimes the perpetrators can face a fine or imprisonment of up to 10 years.

“Tips and evidence of poster interference can be sent to report@da.org.za – these may be sent anonymously and are best prosecutable when photos or videos are sent too,” concluded Whitfield.

The 2019 National and Provincial election takes place on 8 May and the DA is campaigning on an offering to the electorate by by fighting corruption, establishing an honest and professional police service, creating fair access to jobs, securing our borders and speeding up basic service delivery.

On Election Day – Wednesday 8 May – voting stations will open from 7am until 9pm to allow the 26.7 million registered voters to cast their ballots for the national and provincial elections.

Voting stations will be staffed by approximately 189 000 election officials who have volunteered and been trained over the past two months to conduct the elections.

How voting will happen at the voting station

On average there will be 8 election officials per voting station which includes the Presiding Officer, Deputy Presiding Officer and officials to perform the various aspects of the voting process including:

• Assisting voter’s in the queue including checking that they have the right identification documents (only green barcoded ID book, a smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate is accepted)
• Scanning the voters’ ID document and checking the voter’s name against the voters’ roll
• Inking the voter’s left thumb with indelible ink
• Stamping and issuing the voter with a national and provincial ballot paper

Officials are also available to capture addresses for voters, whose addresses do not appear on the voters’ roll.

Each political party is also permitted to deploy two party agents at every voting station to oversee and monitor voting and counting.

Domestic and international observers will also be deployed to voting stations around the country. Sixty six observer organizations have been accredited by the IEC.

Voting stations will close at 9 pm on Election Day – but all voters who are in the queue to vote at 9 pm will be allowed to vote.

Ballot paper improved for 2019 General Elections

The IEC has improved the ballot with the following innovations:

1)   The 2019 ballot papers have been redesigned to enable easy identification of the party of choice by the voter, to facilitate the selection of that party with confidence and to minimise risks of miscast ballots.

2)   For visually impaired and special needs voters the Commission has produced TEN customised voting aids called Universal Ballot Templates (UBTs) to fit the newly designed 2019 national and provincial ballots. Each voting station will have a UBT to accommodate the national ballot and one for the provincial ballot.

3)   For all voters, the Commission has developed large posters showing the national ballot and the provincial ballot.  These will be displayed in each voting station to help the voters easily distinguish the different parties on the ballot list.

Once the voting station closes, the counting of votes begins immediately at the voting station. The counting is conducted by election officials and is witnessed by party agents and observers.

The results slip for each voting station is completed by the Presiding Officer and is signed by party agents who are also encouraged to take a photograph of the results slip to allow them to compare it to the final result captured on the results system.

One copy of the results slip is posted on the door of the voting station while the second copy is taken back to the local IEC office where is it scanned into the results system and the results data captured through a double-capture process to reduce any human error.

She said that the captured results are compared against the scan of the results slip and audited by independent auditors before being transmitted to the national and provincial results operations centres where they immediately and simultaneously become available to the Electoral Commission, political parties, observers and the media.

Voters can check their voting station location by SMSing their ID number to 32810 (R1) and can reach the Contact Centre on 0800 11 8000 for all enquiries regarding the elections.

The 2019 national and provincial elections will be on 8 May 2019.

Make sure everything is ready for you to be part of bringing change on 8 May.

Find the answers to frequently asked questions, carry on reading.

If you need more help, please feel free to call (0861 22 55 32), email (info@da.org.za) or Whatsapp (084 000 2019) us and we’d be happy to answer your questions.

Why do we have an election this year?

According to our Constitution, elections must take place every five years to elect our Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) in each province. The previous national and provincial election was held in 2014.

In this election, you will get two ballots (one provincial and one national ballot) to vote for the proportional representation of political parties in these legislative bodies.

What if I have moved since I last registered?

You are encouraged to vote at the voting station where you are registered, which you can locate with this tool, but you can vote at any voting station in your province.

If you are outside of the province where you are registered, you may vote but will only be able to vote on the national ballot.

What if I will be in another province?

You are encouraged to vote at the voting station where you are registered, which you can locate at check.da.org.za.

If you are outside of the province where you are registered, you may vote but will only be able to vote on the national ballot.

What do I need in order to vote?