We must protect the IEC's reputation

Share current article via Email Share current article via Facebook Share current article via Twitter Share current article via LinkedIn The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is, undoubtedly, one of the country's finest institutions and, as far as credibility goes, ranks among the very best electoral bodies on the continent — if not in the world. This is a reputation the IEC has earned by consistently being impartial and for delivering free and fair elections for the past three decades. In a continent where election results are often disputed by losing parties — leading to drawn-out legal battles and, in some cases, political violence — none of us should take for granted the fact that our polls are often conducted without any major controversies and that their outcomes are almost universally accepted as reflective of the will of the people. It is incumbent upon all of us, the citizens and the political parties, to guard and protect this reputation of our electoral body as well as its independence. As with other election seasons, the current period of preparing for the polls has been without any controversy, with every political party and independent candidate partaking in the process on an equal footing. We ought to keep things this way throughout. However, it is concerning to see the ANC, in a bid to conceal what seems to emanate from its own internal administrative weaknesses, acts in a manner that can easily undermine the public's confidence in the independence and credibility of the IEC. We hope that the ANC, or any other party with a grievance, will use the courts instead of hoping that the IEC may be pressured through public statements to amend electoral lists After having failed to submit the names of all the party's candidates for municipalities across the country, the ANC has been claiming — seemingly without much evidence — that there was a technological 'glitch' in the IEC registration system that prevented the party from meeting all its obligations before deadline day. Despite IEC denials that the two organisations were in talks behind the scenes, the ANC has given the public the impression that the IEC was working on an 'amicable solution' to the problem. This has the potential to cause unnecessary suspicion that the IEC may be willing to bend the rules for the country's largest political party. If the ANC does have evidence that some of its names failed to meet the deadline because of the IEC's system failures, the party should produce such evidence and present it before the IEC and the other political parties. The matter should be dealt with transparently and to the satisfaction of all parties involved. If the ANC, or any other party, is not satisfied with the IEC process, it has the right to approach the Electoral Court. We hope that the ANC, or any other party with a grievance, will use the courts instead of hoping that the IEC may be pressured through public statements to amend electoral lists. While the full facts of the controversy are yet to emerge, it is important to note that in the 2021 local government elections the ANC was faced with similar problems. Were it not for the postponement of the election date due to Covid restrictions, the party would have found itself losing a couple of municipalities even before votes were cast. One of the issues party leader Cyril Ramaphosa and his leadership colleagues should concern themselves with is why the largest and oldest political party in the country struggles with the simple task of submitting candidate lists on time when their main rivals do not.