With just less than 24 hours remaining before the 2024 general national and provincial elections, industry experts have expressed mixed reactions to the state of readiness of different voting stations in rural areas.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) reported smooth progress in special votes, however, concerns about the freedom and fairness of farmworkers’ voting processes have been raised by industry stakeholders.
Chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said the IEC has reported a significant turnout on the first day of the special voting process, which started yesterday and is set to conclude today.
“Approximately 201 794 special votes had been processed at 22 626 service points. The commission is pleased with the progress and urges South Africans to continue participating in the upcoming elections.
“The commission has also warned voters to remain vigilant against misinformation and scams on social media. Voters are reminded to bring their identity documents and to adhere to the voting procedures to ensure a smooth and secure election process,” he said.
Protecting farmworkers’ rights key
According to Billy Claasen, the chief executive officer of the farmworkers development organisation (FMWO), while the country is 30 years into democracy, workers are still not free.
“Farmworkers will be standing in lines at the voting stations on the 29th with their bosses behind them to explain and force workers to vote for the parties they chose.
“Farmworkers don’t always vote for the party of their choice. They are being forced by farmers to vote for the parties the farmers want them to vote for and that is wrong, it is not freedom,” he said.
For Claasen, it is upsetting that although farmers and their workers will be in the same lines, after the elections, the status quo will be the same as the conditions of farmworkers will still be the same.
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Reports of unfair campaigning
Claasen said during the campaigning period, some farmers only allowed certain parties onto the farms and not other parties onto the farms to campaign for farmworker votes.
“It is not fair and numerous cases are being led at the police stations and also the IEC but nothing has been done over the years to amend this situation. These kinds of things need to be corrected soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thandeka Mabasa, CEO of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa), confirmed that members of Afasa, being farmers, are committed to ensuring workers cast their vote on voting day.
“Their workers are free and encouraged to exercise their democratic right of voting at their registered polling station,” she said.
Mabasa said it is important to note that while Afasa supports democratic processes and policies that the government has developed in support of inclusive growth of the agricultural sector in South Africa, Afasa is apolitical.
“And because of this, we would like to see continuity in the implementation of policies and programmes, irrespective of the outcomes of the upcoming elections,” she said.
Concerns post-elections
Mabasa highlighted that Afasa is looking forward to accelerating the implementation of the Agricultural and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP) which aims to ensure transformation and inclusive growth of the agricultural sector.
“We have experienced many programmes which were changed following a change in leadership before they can even reach maturity since the dawn of democracy, ” she said.
She added that the AAMP took about five years to develop, therefore she is hoping that post-elections, there will not be new policies or programmes being introduced and doing away with the AAMP.
“Perhaps, it is only fair to state that Afasa supports any party that will support the plight of black farmers, land, water rights, access to finance and markets, and that support to resource-poor farmers remain at the core of challenges facing black farmers in the country,” she said.
ALSO READ: Elections 2024: Agriculture on ‘5 years of service delivery failures’
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