South Africans in UAE vote today: Where, how?

Today, South Africans living abroad will cast their votes ahead of the national elections of 2014. More than 2,000 South Africans in the UAE are expected to voice their preference for the ruling party over the next five years.

Mpetjane Kgaogelo Lekgoro, Ambassador of South Africa to the UAE, spoke to ‘Emirates24|7’ about the South African community in the UAE, South African politics and the elections.

In the 2009 elections, when expats had to register in South Africa to be eligible to vote from abroad, Dubai was ranked third on the list of places with the highest number of votes from South Africans abroad - totalling 900 votes.

This year the numbers would rise further as this is first time expat South Africans can register to vote from abroad. The UAE hosts around 100,000 South African nationals.

“It may be a little hard to stay informed about the debates, party programmes and different opposition parties,” admits Lekgoro, “but surely these South Africans are able to voice their opinion.”

“I think South Africans in the UAE can make a fair vote. When you vote, it is assumed that you practice your vote with a particular hope of what that party can do for you in the future. To have this hope means that you have knowledge about this party,” he says.

For the last 20 years the African National Congress (ANC) has remained the dominant party in South African politics. It was involved in bringing an end to the apartheid regime, and has been the governing party ever since, although coalition and opposition parties have existed since the democratic order was in place.

This is something that is likely to change, say analysts, as a generation of free-born South Africans will now be able to vote for the first time. This generation may not have the same affinity with the historic credentials of the ruling party as the older generation has, they claim.

“There are such arguments, yes. But these are arguments of those who take citizens for granted.  People do not erase history, and I do not think that people can take away from the ANC what they have done to establish a democratic order.

“People are not easily manipulated. They are able to take a view whether they are satisfied with the ANC so far, or not. That is why we are proud of our system. It allows all South Africans at election time to make that remark.”

In Abu Dhabi 570 South Africans are expected to cast their vote, while 1,500 expats are on the voting roll in Dubai. The largely middle class community – majority of them in between late-20s and late-40s - is a mobile community, with close links to the home front, Lekgoro describes.

“I would not be able to make a call on how this community will vote. Every person is affected differently. But I am sure that their expat life influences their vote. If you see something you appreciate in another country, you wish it is applied in your own country. Similarly, when you do not like something, you are happy it does not apply at home.

“The issues the electorate wants to address are really issues of employment,” he continues.  “People will like to put a government in place in the understanding that they are going to resolve issues of unemployment, as well as issues such as the divide between the rich and the poor, the high costs of healthcare, further improvement of education and of the general infrastructure.”

Whether these are issues that influence the return home is difficult to say, Lekgoro says. “I do not think people leave South Africa because they do not want to go back.

“South Africans mostly migrate in search for better jobs, such as is the case with most South Africans in the UAE. South Africans here are mostly skilled workers looking for jobs with a good salary. They are active in the financial sector, in the health sector as well as in businesses.”

Lekgoro encourages all South Africans who have registered and submitted their online application to cast their vote tomorrow, as it is the legacy that the forefathers of South Africa including Mandela have given the nation.

“I am proud of the fact that it is within our culture that no government should be in place when it is not based on the will of the people. It is up to the citizens, and this is a privilege. Let us enjoy this,” he concludes.

The embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai will be opened from 7am to 9pm, and only those whose names turn up on the voters’ roll will be able to vote. Participants must present their 13-digit South African ID and South African passport.

The embassy and consulate will be closed for all its consular activities on Tuesday.
 

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