MATRICULANTS who are eligible to vote should be allowed special votes and be given preferential treatment.
This is the demand of the Congress of South African Students president, General Thabang Mokoena. He said they noted the Department of Basic Education had amended the matric examination timetable to accommodate the 2021 local government elections. According to the department, the exams will start on 27 October and not on 1 November as initially scheduled.
Mokoena said this means the dates for writing the different papers will be altered but Cosas was not consulted in the process.
He said they would like to raise this with the IEC.
“We demand that the IEC allow matric pupils to vote during a special voting day,” he said.
He said they thought if the government can shift the examination calendar because of elections that was an indication that pupils are an extraordinary constituency that deserve to be treated differently.
He said the matric pupils must be allocated a special voting day, before the official election day.
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“We encourage all eligible pupils to register to vote during the 18 and 19 September 2021 registration weekend and those who cannot do walk-in registration should use the online facility of the IEC.
A pupil at Rephafogile Secondary School, Kedibone Mathope (18), said he does not see a problem of voting and preparing for exams at the same time.
“I don’t think the voting process could cause trouble with our studies. I’m excited to be voting for the first time. I encourage my peers to study hard for their exams so that they do not make voting proceedings an excuse. We have a right to vote and change our future.”
