Following his appointment as the Head of Mission for SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) by His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, His Excellency Enock Kavindele launched the SEOM in Boksburg, Johannesburg on 22nd May 2024 in preparation for the National and Provincial elections to be held on 29 May 2024.
The launch was attended by several key stakeholders which included representatives of Diplomatic Missions, political parties, Civil Society Organisations, local and international observers and the media houses.
H.E. Kavindele underlined South Africa’s well-known tradition of conducting peaceful elections at the national level and expressed his willingness to see that tradition continuing during and beyond this year’s electoral cycle. He appealed for an end to the culture of political violence in relation to previously held local government elections, specifically in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.
The Head of Mission urged all registered voters to exercise their civic and political rights by going out to vote on 29th May 2024 and encouraged all stakeholders to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible manner.
H. E. Kavindele highlighted that the region looks forward to an electoral process that adheres to democratic values and principles envisioned in the SADC Treaty, the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation; and the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021).
For his part, Professor Kula Ishmael Theletsane, Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs at the SADC Secretariat highlighted that elections are central to SADC’s vision of building legitimate and democratic institutions as a foundation for a common goal of achieving regional integration supported by an atmosphere of sustainable peace and stability.
He said, building sustainable democratic institutions in the region is consonant with provisions of the SADC Treaty on the objectives of the Organ as set out in Article 2 of the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation which is “to Promote the development of democratic institutions and practices within the territories of state parties”.
The SADC Electoral Observation Mission to National and Provincial Elections in the Republic of South Africa consists of personnel from 11 SADC Member States namely, the Kingdoms of Eswatini and Lesotho, the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The observers will be deployed to all the 9 provinces of South Africa, namely: Eastern-Cape; Free State; Gauteng; KwaZulu-Natal; Limpopo; Mpumalanga; Northern-Cape; North-West; and Western-Cape. The SEOM observations will focus on the pre-election, election, and post-election periods, which includes the campaigns, the voting day and the process of the counting of the ballot papers.
The SEOM arrived in South Africa on the 13th May 2024 and will be in the country until 7th June 2024 to observe the elections in accordance with the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021).
