More than 5 000 uncollected identity documents are sitting at the Pietermaritzburg Department of Home Affairs, as reported on yesterday’s front page of The Witness. As the final chance for voter registration looms this weekend, these IDs represent more than 5 000 voices that risk falling silent in the local government elections. Local elections are often overshadowed by national politics, yet they are arguably the elections that matter most in our daily lives.
The councillors and local leaders elected in November will influence the quality of the roads we drive on, the refuse collected outside our homes, the water flowing from our taps and the services our municipalities deliver. These are the decisions that shape neighbourhoods, suburbs and communities. Unlike national elections, local government gives voters the opportunity to choose the people they believe can best serve their own wards and communities.
It is here, at grassroots level, that citizens have perhaps their greatest opportunity to drive meaningful change. For that reason, every eligible voter who fails to collect an identity document is potentially surrendering their voice before a ballot is even cast. There are genuine challenges.
Read Full Article on The Witness
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The Department of Home Affairs, however, has responded by extending office hours, opening over the voter registration weekend and expanding Smart ID services through participating banks. These interventions aimed at making access easier are welcome, and must continue at an accelerated rate. Ultimately, however, the responsibility cannot rest with government alone.
The Department of Home Affairs has repeatedly urged residents to collect their IDs in the lead-up to voter registration. It can only do so much.
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