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The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa
(IEC-RSA), Dr Brigalia Bam, announced today at a media briefing in
Pretoria, that the Governments of Denmark and Ireland have
generously donated a total of R11 million to assist with elections
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“These funds will specifically be used in some of the
projects for the forthcoming elections. The donation is highly
appreciated and clearly shows the commitment of these countries in
the development of peace and stability on the African
continent,” said Dr Bam.
The Republic of South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) have been co-operating in bringing about peace and stability
in the DRC. This co-operation led to the signing of the Global and
Inclusive Agreement on Transition in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo in Pretoria on 16 December 2002. The Agreement made amongst
others, a provision for the transition of the DRC to
democracy.
Following this Agreement, the two Governments signed a General
Co-operation Agreement with a view to promoting political, economic
and social co-operation. The Agreement also made a provision for
the establishment of a Bi-National Commission between the two
countries. As part of that agreement, the Electoral Commissions of
the two countries concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
aimed at facilitating co-operation and rendering assistance with
respect to electoral matters. This MoU was signed on 10 February
2005. Other MoUs and agreements have been signed between various
government departments in South Africa and their counterparts in
the DRC.
In terms of the above-mentioned MoU, the following areas of
assistance were identified:
* logistics
* information and communication technology (ICT)
* voting and results
* recruitment and training of staff
* conflict resolution
Dr Bam said the IEC-RSA was pleased to announce that co-operation
has been facilitated extensively in a number of areas. With respect
to logistics, South Africa will be printing all the ballot papers
for the upcoming elections in the DRC. In keeping with the MoU, the
IEC-RSA will project-manage the printing of these ballots as we do
for our own elections. The Government of South Africa has
graciously contributed the paper required for the printing of the
ballots as well as the distribution of these ballots to 14 hubs in
the DRC. Work has already commenced in earnest in this
regard.
Further assistance rendered in the logistics area includes the
training of IEC-DRC staff on electoral logistics. This training
took place in both South Africa and the DRC. The IEC-RSA is also
warehousing electoral material that will be used in the elections
in the DRC.
“A number of our electoral experts on information technology
(IT) have also been rendering assistance to the IEC-DRC. As we
speak, seven of these experts are permanently based in the DRC. We
have received even more requests for IT staff. In this regard, we
will be approaching civil society organizations, SADC Electoral
Commissions and South African business to kindly avail this
critical expertise for these elections in the DRC. It is
anticipated that 128 electoral experts will be seconded from South
Africa to assist in that country from 1 July to 15 August
2006.
“In collaboration with our counterpart in the DRC, we held a
seminar for political parties prior to registration with a view to
assisting them to understand the complexities of running elections.
Other seminars are planned to be held before the elections on 30
July 2006. These seminars will be geared towards ensuring that
political parties understand the voting process, and the process
for counting and announcement of results.
“As you are probably aware, elections in the DRC are complex.
That country has not held an election in more than 40 years. In
many respects, these elections may be compared to our first
democratic elections in 1994.
“Various governments have contributed through the United
Nations for this transition in the DRC. It is in this respect that
the governments of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of
Ireland have recognised our efforts and agreed to partner us in
rendering assistance as we do, to the IEC-DRC,” said Dr
Bam.
Enquiries
Lydia Young
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
18 May 2006
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