The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (the Centre) hosted an Access to Information and Elections in South Africa symposium on 10 and 11 November 2022 at the University of Pretoria. Co-hosting the event were the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the Information Regulator (IR), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA). The symposium is part of an advocacy project to promote the transparency and integrity of elections, and meaningful participation in elections by an informed electorate in South Africa. To this end, the symposium advocates for the implementation of the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa were developed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Further, the symposium seeks to promote the implementation of the recommendations of the 2020 report titled Proactive Disclosure of Information and Elections in South Africa. The SA report assessed South Africa’s compliance with the Guidelines and made targeted recommendations to electoral stakeholders.
The symposium noted progress made in the implementation of the Guidelines as reflected in the SA report. The IEC, the IR and other electoral stakeholders also highlighted their continuous efforts since the publication of the SA report to implement measures to achieve the proactive disclosure objectives set out in the Guidelines. They also made specific commitments based on their mandates to further implement the Guidelines and the recommendations of the report that were captured in a communique. Following the symposium, the Centre will embark on sector specific engagement and capacity building of the electoral stakeholders identified in the Guidelines to further promote the Guidelines. The Centre will also provide support to initiatives by state and civil society organisations to promote proactive disclosure of information throughout the electoral process.
For more information, please contact:
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3180
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
marystella.simiyu@up.ac.za
