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THE PRESIDENCY: REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Private Bag X1000, Pretoria, 0001
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
Internal Question Paper No. 23 of 2013
Date Published: 26 July 2013
1861. Mr L S Ngonyama (Cope) to ask the President of the Republic:
What (a) is his position on the situation in Zimbabwe with regard to
the run-up to the elections on 31 July 2013 and (b) are the further
relevant details?
NW2214E
REPLY:
South Africa is part of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) which was
launched on 15 July 2013. SADC deployed over five hundred and seventy three
(573) election observers throughout Zimbabwe. On 2 August the SEOM stated
the following:
âIn the course of observing the elections, the Mission noted that there was
general adherence to the relevant national legal instruments and the SADC
Principles and Guidelines governing Democratic Elections. The following
best practices and lessons in the Zimbabwean elections were observed:
- Political leadersâ continuous call for peace;
- Availability of ZEC to Observersâ enquiries despite its
workload;
- ZECâs readiness to accept responsibility and address the
challenges arising from the multiparty liaison committee;
- Existence of a multiparty liaison committee;
- Prompt accreditation of Observers
- Use of indelible ink to prevent double voting;
- Use of translucent ballot boxesâ
SADC, AU, COMESA and SADC Parliamentary Forum, with the large number of
observers they had on the ground, were able to cover all the provinces of
Zimbabwe and were able to pronounce on the electoral process.