IEC & GPW 2020/21 Annual Performance Plans; with Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed Committee Members and thanked those who had attended the oversight visit to the Lindela Repatriation Centre. He asked the Electoral Commission (IEC) to make their presentation.

Briefing by Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
Mr Sy Mamabolo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), IEC, made the presentation to the Committee. He said that the mandate of IEC is rooted in S 190 of the Constitution of South Africa, 1996, in which the duties and functions of the Electoral Commission are defined. The vision of IEC is to be a pre-eminent leader in electoral democracy. He mentioned that the mission of IEC is to be an independent constitutional body, which manages elections of legislative bodies and ensures that those elections are free and fair through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society in order to strengthen electoral democracy and the values include impartiality, integrity, accountability, transparency and responsiveness.

The ruling by the Constitutional Court in June 2016 (Electoral Commission v Mhlope and Others) signalled a change in the external environment. The Court required that the Electoral Commission must, by 30 June 2018, have obtained and recorded all addresses of voters that were reasonably available as at 17 December 2003; and obtain and record all available addresses for the relevant ward segments of the voters’ roll for purposes of municipal by-elections. These orders have had major implications for the work and resources of the Electoral Commission and required significant additional address harvesting and capture initiatives.

The CEO said that the political parties and the public’s expectations of an electoral administration have also changed significantly in this time. In response, the administration of elections has also become more structured and efficient.  Recent statistics show that voter turnout declined from 89.3% in 1999 to 65.34% in 2019 and there is a need to create strategies that can motivate people to go and vote. There has been a stability of voter turnout in local provincial elections. The decline in participation and registration as a percentage of the eligible population is one of the key indicators of the change in the political and macro-social environment in which the Electoral Commission operates, and is a cause of deep concern for all stakeholders in electoral democracy. The IEC will work with key stakeholders to identify opportunities to jointly address this trend.

Demarcation disputes have also affected the IEC. There are two categories - provincial boundaries and local government boundaries. Provincial boundary disputes have a tendency to lapse and only when elections are closer do communities start protesting. Municipal boundary tensions also arise, such as in Limpopo in Collins Chabane Municipality where each election has been marred by disruptions.

The Municipal Demarcation Board has made a decision that they are not going process issues of outer municipal boundaries and IEC can already anticipate protests from the citizens. The Board launched a municipal demarcation process in January but they have been affected by COVID-19 and stopped the community consultation process after covering only four of the nine provinces in the country. This means that the final ward boundaries will no longer be handed over in August. The IEC has requested a meeting with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the delay.

The CEO said there has been a debate towards having composite elections [holding national, provincial and municipal elections on the same day]. The matter requires policy consultations in the future.

COVID-19 has caused disruption and the IEC has not been immune to the pandemic. The IEC has made sure that they do not close shop through different initiatives that they implemented. They have created a Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that employees can continue working virtually. Most employees have been connected. IEC has also decided to work on a mobile structure going forward which means every employee will work on a laptop and the first of the new laptops were expected in the coming week. The Commission has put in place measures to deep clean the workplace and there will be thermometers at all IEC facilities so as to take temperatures of employees daily. They have procured sanitisers and masks for all employees. IEC has also offered to test employees although this is not a directive. It is in the interest of the employees to be in a healthy state.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IEC has been forced to approach the electoral court to postpone 37 by-elections by 120 days because political parties cannot campaign and citizens cannot be exposed to the virus by gathering in large numbers. The CEO said that there will have to be adjustments to re-prioritise the budget. Therefore a revised Annual Performance Plan (APP) will be submitted in due course.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) presented the budget. The bulk of the costs are allocated to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and accommodation for the head office and offices around the country. During the 2020/21 financial year the IEC plans on having one registration weekend which means the expenditure for this registration will be largely incurred in the 2020/21 financial year. In 2022 there are no elections scheduled which will result in a huge decline in the budget. IEC was allocated additional funding of R50 million in the 2019/20 financial year to establish a separate unit within the Commission to set up a Represented Political Party Fund (RPPF) and a Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF). The funds were allocated to cover costs for both 2019/20 and 2021. Of this R50 million it is estimated that approximately R38 million will be rolled over to fund the unit in 2020/21.

Discussion

Mr D Moela (ANC) welcomed the presentation and asked about the decline in voter turnout. He was of the view that voter education needs to be taken more seriously. On the postponed by-elections, he asked if the 120 days given was not sufficient was there another plan to make sure that the by-elections take place. He questioned how IEC has a 100% performance and development rate? Mr Moela was also concerned about IEC having the same presiding officers and if this was because the Commission was not training new people which means that there is no transformation.

A Member asked about the decline of voter turnout and said that there is a need for voter education so that more citizens are well educated on the issue of voting. In most instances voter education is only prioritised during election years.  She asked if IEC has a plan.

Mr A Roos (ANC) asked about the ICT programme not being finished yet and if it will impact elections. He was impressed with how the Commission had dealt with issue of addresses.  He asked if there is there a reason why people cannot be registered at source for instance when they get their Identity Documents (IDs). Is it possible to ask people at that moment if they would like to register for voting?

Ms L van der Merwe (IFP) was impressed that the IEC is providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to their employees during this COVID-19 pandemic. She asked about the plans to attract more young people to register to vote in local government elections. How did the IEC plan to grow their social media footprint in the coming 5 years? She also asked about the target to replace the zip zap machines. Was the Commission still on track to reach this target as for a second year human resource changes had not been implemented?

Ms L Tito (ANC) asked how the lockdown is going to test the IEC in achieving their targets of 2020/21 considering the amount of time being lost due to the shutdown. She asked if IEC was encouraging citizens to register to vote online.

Mr S Chabane (ANC) acknowledged and appreciated the presentation. He asked about the financial implications of composite voting if this project is implemented. If the IEC has not yet piloted electronic voting, what are the measures in place to mitigate cyber threats? He noted that the Auditor General had highlighted irregular expenditure in the Commission and asked if there had been any managerial consequences from this issue.

Mr J McGluwa (DA) said there was no use in the Commission giving variations from target achievement but not providing remedies. He was not pleased that the IEC had a 0% on performance [for performance assessments for 2017/18 that were to have been completed and moderated in May 2019 – slide 24]
The Commission must come up with remedies. He said that the failed attempt in the IT hardware is because of the procurement delays. There is a huge underachievement on the part of the Commission reflected by the amount of people [whose addresses were] not on the voters roll. Mr McGluwa thanked the IEC for saying that they have to change their budget because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chairperson asked the IEC to respond to the questions asked by members, he also said that if they did not have answers [to hand] they should submit written answers instead of attempting to answer questions without all the information.

The IEC said that the Constitutional Court granted the Commission and extension to source addresses and they have discharged their obligation. Persons who do not have an address recorded will still be allowed to vote because there are people who do not have addresses and they have to be embraced through elections. He said that voters do not get removed from the voters roll until after they have passed on. The voter turnout is not reduced only by lack of voter education but for a variety of reasons.

The IEC said there is an online training programme to allow access of facilities. On the issue of participation especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to work with political parties. Online registration of voters is available at all times.

Dr Nomsa Masuku, IEC Commissioner, said that the Electoral Commission is always trying and experimenting on new ways on how to conduct elections.

Responding to Mr McGluwa, Mr Mamabolo said that compliance targets for the IEC performance management system are that every staff member must be covered 100% as evidenced by the existence of performance agreements and performance assessments for the year under review. In the past years it had been difficult because employees would be on leave or not onsite for different reasons. He mentioned that there is a need to blend new employees with the old employees but it must be done in a way that allows for passing on knowledge and not have an impact on elections and not lose the experience of running elections.

He mentioned that the upgrade of the ICT programme was scheduled to last for 2 years and it has been completed. Laptops will be delivered. The Electoral Laws Amendment Bill has been submitted to the Minister of Home Affairs but it is yet to be tabled in the National Assembly. On the issue of registering voters and recording their addresses at source [when people apply for IDs], he said that it cannot be conclusively decided yet because there are pros and cons to be considered. Mr Mamobolo also agreed on the matter of growing a social media footprint. He concluded by saying that the electronic voting matter was on their horizon and they have done research on it and they are in discussion with Treasury to see if they can get funding to assist them in running a pilot programme.

The Chairperson thanked the IEC and asked for the Government Printing Works (GPW) to make their presentation. The Chairperson mentioned that he had received an email containing allegations about the office of GPW and the office of the Minister. He had requested more information from the person who had sent the email and he was still waiting. He also said that he was waiting for a report from the Minister and once this is finalized the report will be presented to the Committee. There was an ongoing investigation.

Briefing by Government Printing Works (GPW)
Ms Alinah Fosi, Acting CEO, GPW, presented the Government Printing Works Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 and Annual Performance Plan 2020/21. She highlighted the history, mandate and services of GPW.

She explained that GPW in the previous years engaged in strategic alignment. They fully recognize the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and they are ready. It is the vision of GPW to be the state’s mandated security printer. GPW is not funded directly by National Treasury. It is self-funding [by charging government clients] and has been able to declare a surplus each year.

Ms Fosi said that the core services of GPW are security printing which includes conceptualisation, design and production of face-value documents [such as passports, ID documents etc.] and non-security printing which includes layout, design and production of government official stationery and related documents.

GPW contributes towards achievement of the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP, Vision 2030) and strives to make a significant contribution to the national government outcomes which include social cohesion and safe communities.

GPW has been able to employ more young people and the differently abled as to make sure that they reduce unemployment. The target for 2020/21 is for 20 unemployed young people and women to be  recruited  for Artisan and Graduate skills development programmes

GPW also wants to ensure that they improve customer experience by completing work timeously. She said that the GPW is planning an internal audit which will be implemented soon.

The Annual Performance Plan (APP) outlines all outcome indicators and performance targets that have been put in place to ensure that initiatives as outlined in the Strategic Plan are achieved.

Ms Fosi told the Committee that the GPW has been meeting their targets and would like to see a 100% security vulnerability being detected through assessments. Collection targets for IDs and passports have been met.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the GPW has been having online meetings with clients and business partners.

The CFO concluded by saying that GPW is a self funding organisation and does not receive funding from Treasury and the budget for 2021 is expected to be R 1.5 billion in sales and a net surplus of R 150 million.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked GPW and asked Committee members for their questions.

Mr McGluwa said that the last time it was reported that the GPW did not table its Annual Report but now they record 100 percent performance. What was the reason for not submitting the annual report? The Minister must table an annual report for an entity and if it cannot be done then written reasons must be given. He wanted to know if this was done.

Ms A Khanyile (DA) said that the Chairperson had made some contradictory remarks on the issue of the ongoing investigation. Another issue was on the appointment on a position that was raised in an email that made allegations. Ms Khanyile also asked why did the Minister not investigate the allegations of the acting CEO taking her friends to Bela Bela which resulted in these friends being awarded tenders? Was it possible to get figures of how many people with disabilities and young people have been employed by the GPW. She said that the GPW did not say anything about the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the GPW doing to ensure that their employees are protected from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Moela requested, through the Chairperson, that the GPW should speed up the process of the matter that was raised by the Chairperson at the beginning of the meeting (allegations against the acting CEO) so as to get a better understanding and have all the details. On the issue of a vacant post, he appealed to the entity not to be a Hollywood style, there is a need to appoint qualified and suitable and credible candidates. Senior positions come with a vetting process. There is a written process and the assessment process must be complied with so that there are no surprises in the future. People must be vetted. Lastly he asked that the Committee be briefed about the young people and the positions that they hold at the GPW.

Mr Roos said that Home Affairs is the major user of GPW and they are currently not processing IDs and passports but the budget is almost used up. Was GPW heading towards a loss. The net profit in 2023 goes down to 4%, what is the reasoning behind that? Mr Roos indicated that if the GPW wishes to be the sole provider to government, this requires them to have a strong entity and be a reliable supplier. Why has the GPW not implemented the acquisition of technically skilled employees? He asked about the state of secure printing bill?

Ms Van der Merwe said that the issue of vacancies requires time frames as to when they are going to be filled and also when investigations are going to be completed on the allegations against the CEO. She mentioned that it is important to be provided with figures when it comes to employment. She asked why all the 2021 targets for audit opinions had been set to unqualified when the targets for previous audit outcomes had been set at clean audits. Lastly she asked how many departments is GPW doing business with and if there are any countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) that they are working with? Are there businesses that GPW have approached but have refused to work with them what are the reasons for the refusal?

Mr Chabane welcomed the presentation by GPW and acknowledged that it remains one of government’s departments that continues doing good work. He suggested that the Chairperson seek audience from people outside the GPW in terms of the issue being investigated by the Committee, as some of the people implicated are part of the GPW. He raised the issue of the footprint of GWP because they plan on expanding their mark in SADC, what are the strategic plans in this respect? Mr Chabane also raised the issue of compliance in the GPW and asked about consequence management to deal with this issue.

The Chairperson said that there are no contradictions in the matter being investigated. He requested that Members wait for the final report from the Minister. He said he takes the matter seriously. The Chairperson asked the Minister to respond to questions raised by the Committee.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Minister of Home Affairs, responded to some of the questions. He mentioned that the CEO issue was still about allegations and not yet facts. Members should wait for the report before concluding on the matter. He was pleased with how the Chairperson dealt with the matter.

He said that security vetting of potential employees is usually done at two levels and the final vetting process is done by state security. The major problem is that it takes time and this places departments in a difficult position because they need to fill vacancies, although one can be employed with a condition of waiting for feedback from the state security. GPW is going to experience a loss just like many other entities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this means that GPW is not immune.

GPW does not print ballot papers for IEC. The Minister said that GPW should look for other clients if the Department of Public Works does not work with them because GPW is not indebted to any company but they must print for all state entities.

He said that it is difficult to give timeframes because of the lockdown. GPW is aiming to be the preferred printer for members of SADC. It is important to support other SADC countries if the facilities are available. The Minister mentioned that the Namibian Minister personally visited the GPW site and was impressed on how it works.

Ms Fosi said that GPW has a plan to address COVID-19. There is taskforce, and everyone who is visiting the facility is being tested by nurses. The GPW is planning on introducing a second shift so as to avoid crowding and most employees have been working remotely through a VPN network.

Ms Michelle Modise, General Manager: Human Resources, GPW, said that GPW will send a written response with the information on how many young people, women and differently abled persons have been employed.

The meeting was adjourned.