Johannesburg - The lists of names of party representatives for Parliament and provincial legislatures represent the country's diversity, IEC chairwoman Pansy Tlakula said on Friday.
“The candidates represent our diverse cultures, languages, gender representation, and so on,” she said at a ceremony to hand over the lists to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
“Of these candidates, approximately 42 percent of them are women, with the oldest being 85-years-old and the youngest 22. The average age of the representatives is 50.”
The 22-year-old representative would be in the Limpopo legislature, she said.
Tlakula handed over a list of 830 representatives for Parliament and provincial legislatures.
She said the handing over of the lists indicated that the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) had come to the end of the 2014 general elections process.
“Our message to them [representative] is to serve the next five years with pride and honesty,” she said.
Mogoeng said the work of Parliament and provincial legislatures would not be possible without the swearing in and inauguration performed by judicial officials.
“In the absence of the lists, the chief justice would not be able to usher in the inauguration in Parliament and the inauguration of the president,” he said.
Although dissatisfied South Africans had staged widespread protests, they had gone to the polls.
“Their participation in the voting process showed they embraced the opportunity to exercise their hard-earned right to vote, and voted for whoever they preferred,” Mogoeng said.
He handed the list to deputy secretary to Parliament Baby Tyawa.
The National Assembly representatives will be sworn in on May 21 and those in the National Council of Provinces on May 22, Tyawa said.
Sapa