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- The Department of International Relations and Cooperation says it is ready to ship voting material abroad.
- The DA recently won its case against the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to ensure that there will be more voting stations abroad in 2024.
- Find everything you need to know about the 2024 general elections on News24's Elections Hub.
Pretoria has announced its preparedness to dispatch voting materials to 115 countries, ensuring that South Africans living overseas can exercise their democratic right to vote.
In a statement, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has met logistics for dispatching election materials.
"Voting materials will be sent to all 115 South African diplomatic missions using diplomatic airfreight bags. The short-term contract for this purpose is in place. The diplomatic bag is protected by diplomatic immunity."
The department said it uses diplomatic bags to dispatch official documents and articles to and from South Africa in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.
The statement comes days after the DA complained about South African consulates and embassies throughout the world having to rely on the diplomatic bag services to send high-level, classified communications and consular documents to and from South Africa.
#SAElections24 | #DIRCO is confident that all systems are in place for the shipment of voting materials to enable South African citizens living abroad to cast their ballots.
— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) April 30, 2024
? For location and contact details for all South African missions abroad:??https://t.co/pmGbrHBd3G pic.twitter.com/wDM3mid6V7
In a statement, the party said in the absence of this service, South African citizens abroad were unable to send and receive crucial documentation via their local embassies, such as marriage certificates, police clearances and passports.
It said: "Dirco's failure to plan for the timely renewal of this critical service has now led to interim, short-term contracts being awarded on an ad hoc basis, where money can be found and internally re-appropriated.
"The situation is of grave concern in light of the upcoming national elections, with citizens abroad set to cast their ballots within the next three weeks."
"Diplomatic bags are required to send ballots to missions abroad, [and] are only counted once received by the IEC in South Africa. A failure by Dirco to ensure a functioning and seamless diplomatic bag service during this time will pose a significant threat to overseas voting integrity."
READ | Elections 2024: DA wins court battle to have more voting stations abroad
The party went on to say that "as of the past week, 20 South African embassies across Africa, 13 embassies across Europe and the Americas, and four embassies across Asia had still not provided the department with diplomatic bags' requirements for voting day."
It said the situation at Dirco "is inexcusable".
Earlier this month, the DA won its case against the IEC to have more voting stations abroad.
The Electoral Court confirmed that the decision taken by the IEC not to allow voting overseas at consulates headed by honorary consuls should be set aside.
The DA took the IEC to court on 15 February to request the inclusion of all embassies, high commissions, and consulates as voting stations for the 2024 elections.
