NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 882
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 03 May 2013
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 14 of 2013
Mr M S F de Freitas (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
What makes up the increase in the Electoral Commissionâs allocation to the
Outreach Budget Programme?
NW1101E
REPLY:
The question was referred to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and
it advised as follows:
The Outreach Budget Programme comprises of budgets for the following sub-
divisions:
⢠Civic Education & Research
⢠Knowledge Management
⢠Communications
Outreach: Actual expenditure since 2009/10 and budget allocation over the
MTEF period:
|Sub-programmes|Actual Expenditure |Current|MTEF |
|(R'000) | |Budget | |
| |2009/10|2010/11|2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|2014/15|2015/16|
|Communication |35,182 |85,000 |46,903 |12,814 |115,482|65,095 |136,214|
|Knowledge |1,038 |942 |1,203 |1,748 |1,805 |1,528 |1,930 |
|Management & | | | | | | | |
|Library | | | | | | | |
|TOTAL FOR |64,034 |169,935|90,620 |57,550 |221,894|138,039|247,562|
|SUB-PROGRAMMES| | | | | | | |
| | |Election Period| |Election Period| |
Apart from fluctuations in budget allocations in accordance with election
cycles as illustrated in the figures provided above, budget allocation
under this programme supports activities that are directed at educating
voters and the general citizenry about democracy and electoral processes.
Further, it supports activities that inform voters of electoral processes.
Participation by the electorate has decreased since 1994, particularly
amongst the youth. This represents one of the major challenges to the
Electoral Commission. Consequently, the Electoral Commission has made
provision to increase both the depth and scope of what is known as
âoutreach programmesâ, especially amongst the youth (age group 18 to 25).
The Electoral Commission has revised its strategy regarding civic and
democracy education and increased budget allocations, not to the extent
needed for the task, but within the limits of its total budget allocation.