Foreign observers to monitor S. African elections

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-4-24 22:04:16

Foreign observers will arrive in South Africa to monitor the May 7 elections, the fifth since the end of apartheid, it was announced on Thursday.

A 53-member observer mission, led by former Ghanaian president John Kufuor, will be dispatched by the African Union (AU), the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said.

Other observers will come from human rights groups and the civil society.

The first batch of observers are scheduled to arrive later Thursday, the IEC said, noting that the observers will work to ensure the elections be fair, transparent and peaceful.

The elections will be the most contested since 1994 when South Africa's first democratic government was elected.

In the run-up to the elections, there have been reports of scattering election-related violence. Two members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) had been murdered in the Mhlangandlovu area, KwaZulu-Natal Province over the past few days, the party said.

No arrests have been made and the attackers were not identified.

KwaZulu-Natal is where most of election violent attacks took place in previous elections.

There is no suspense about the outcome of the elections. The ANC, which has been a dominant party since 1994, is poised to win a two-thirds majority (65.5 percent) in the elections, according to the latest survey published by Sunday Times newspaper on Sunday.

This will fall short of the party's expected 65.9 percent.

President Jacob Zuma, who is also ANC's president, is set to secure a second five-year term. In accordance with South Africa's constitution, the leader of a political party which wins the general elections is to become the country's president.

Zuma has been embroiled in the Nkandla scandal in which he is accused of being involved in the abuse of public funds worth 245 million rand (about 23 million US dollars) in the renovation of his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The ANC has admitted to irregularities in the project, but insists that Zuma has not been found guilty of impropriety, maladministration or corruption.

Despite a predicted comfortable victory for the ANC, the party's popularity is being challenged.

Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu has added its voice to criticism of the ANC. He said on Wednesday that he would not vote for the party.

"I won't vote for them (ANC). I say that with a heavy heart," Tutu told reporters in Cape Town.

"Think! Don't vote mindlessly. Don't be voting cattle," Tutu noted. "Remember, it will decide what quality of life you will have for the next five years."

As one of the champions of South Africa's struggle for democracy, Tutu's words were expected to weigh heavily on the minds of some voters.

Posted in: Africa

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