Their voluntary duties during the management of the country's Local Government Elections [2011] involved setting up appointments, digging up information that was required and ushering guests which included VIPs.
The debriefing session with the 1st year Journalism students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Bellville) took place on 2 September 2011 in the comfort of their classroom. The room was filled with smiles and brought back memories of the week they spent with the IEC staff. Reverend Courtney Sampson ( Provincial Electoral Officer of the Western Cape), Ms Kate Bapela ( Manager: Communication and Spokesperson of the Electoral Commission), Chris Balie ( Assistant Manager: Outreach), Noluvo Plaatjie ( SAO - Communication and Stakeholder Liaison Officer), IEC staff, lecturers and all the students who volunteered were present.
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| Week of Elections |
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| 2 September 2011 (all students with Reverend Courtney Sampson, Ms Kate Bapela, Trevor Davids, Chris Balie ) |
The students were handed a debriefing document which included a letter of recommendation written by the PEO.
The journey with the IEC does not end here for the students. The IEC wants the students to be part of their Youth Engagement project which involves students accompanying IEC staff to events and activities and to write articles and reports, write short announcements and advertisements for community radio and newspapers and to have democracy information sessions with students.
The journey with the IEC was a memorable one. Not only to work together as aspiring journalists but to build that special relationship with people who work hard to ensure that the country is able to have free and fair elections.
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| 2 September 2011 |
The exposure and preparations to the students were a glimpse of what awaits them. The IEC surely found a place in the hearts of the Journalism students of CPUT.
