By Phephile Motau
Not wanting to be left behind, as per the election’s tagline ‘Ngete ngasala nasakha live letfu’, thousands of emaSwati flooded to registration centres on Tuesday to beat the registration deadline.
Today (Wednesday), marks the last day of the registration exercise. On Tuesday alone, over 30 000 emaSwati registered to take part in the general elections. This is according to information provided by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
By evening, a total of 475 717 people had registered. The previous day, the numbers were at 445 535, which marks a difference of 30 182. The EBC, on their Facebook page, said the expiration of the voters’ registration period was characterised by long queues in almost all the registration centres.
The numbers in registration centres were more than what was witnessed in previous days. In Mbabane, the registration centres had long queues, particularly around lunchtime, as emaSwati working around the city centre took advantage of their lunch hour to register to be eligible to vote for their preferred candidates.
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During the national elections, emaSwati vote for Bucopho, Tindvuna Tetinkhundla and Members of Parliament (MPs). By Tuesday 7.20 pm, some people were still registering at different centres around the country.
Among those registered during the day were eligible students from Hlatikulu after the civic and voter education which was conducted alongside the registration process at the school. The EBC encouraged emaSwati to take advantage of the remaining day to register.
“Eswatini stand up and register for the 2023 General Elections, the deadline for registration is nigh. The women are still leading in registrant numbers as to date, 257 101 women and 218 616 men have registered to take part in the national elections, while 19 858 people with disabilities have registered.”
EBC Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe said emaSwati came out in their numbers to exercise their rights and responsibilities. He said this was beside the fact that this year’s election was riddled with misinformation and fear.
He said despite everything, the EBC is guided by the Supreme law of the land, which is the Constitution. He said it holds that elections should be held every five years and they were compelled to hold them regardless of the challenges as the last election was held in 2018.
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Bhembe said as their raised awareness of the upcoming elections, they were pleasantly surprised to find emaSwati waiting for them as they wanted to partake in the national elections.
He said they were welcomed with warm hands by everyone from chiefs to citizens in different communities. Bhembe said they also gave them recommendations which they took into account when they set out the elections calendar.
He added that as they progressed, emaSwati showed up to register for elections. He said their launch on June 10 was a resounding success. Bhembe singled out a few tinkhundla which he said performed exceptionally well and they set the tone for others to follow. He said one of them was Lobamba, which is still leading in registrant numbers in the Hhohho region.
He added that others were Mkhiweni and Shiselweni II. Bhembe also said other tinkhundla also came out to take part in the registration exercise. In terms of ages, he said they got inspired by people aged between 36 and 60 years as they came out in numbers and set a good example for others to follow. He said they were followed by pensioners, who are aged above 60 years.
He added that the youth between the ages of 25 and 35 years also said they would not be left behind as they also stood up to register. Bhembe said the disappointing numbers were those of first-time voters.
He said they would conduct a study on why this age group was not so keen on registering. Bhembe said a preliminary study conducted with eligible pupils showed that they were not aware that it is now their time to take part in the elections.
He said this gave them and their parents the challenge of informing their children that they should be responsible for the affairs of the country. Bhembe said the youth were very important as their participation would ensure that the country has inclusive elections and governance.
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He further encouraged them to use the last day to register and let their voices be heard. Bhembe added that people with disability were also impressed as their numbers were approaching 20 000. He said they had challenges with the speech and hearing impaired and they had learnt that knowing sign language is important as these are also important members of society.
EBC ensures the registration of every willing, eligible citizen
The EBC is committed to ensuring that every eligible liSwati who wants to register for the elections gets a chance to do so. Bhembe said the time for the end of registration is 5 pm. He said the gazette then leaves it to the discretion of the supervisors to judge if they can continue with registering.
He said one such factor that influences discretion is the availability of light as their system uses biometrics to prevent fraud. Bhembe said even today, they would continue registering people even past 5 pm as long as the situation allows them to.
Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Eswatini also encouraged emaSwati to register for the elections. On their Twitter account, the embassy said people should not forget to register to vote.
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“The upcoming Eswatini National Elections are an opportunity for all emaSwati to engage directly in the country’s governance—a process we fully support. With just one day to go before the registration deadline, make sure to take this opportunity to make your voice heard,” the embassy said.
The next step in the election is voter register inspection which will take place from June 22 until July 12. Next will be nominations on July 22 and 23.
Primary elections will take place on August 26 and will be followed by campaigning on the next day until September 27. Secondary elections will be on September 29 in different polling stations around the 59 tinkhundla.
