IEC Briefing on 2024 Provincial Elections

Meeting report

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 2024 provincial elections

Mr Michael Hendricks, Western Cape IEC Officer, said 9 469 events had been approved and finalised for the 1 April to 30 October period, which surpassed the target of 8 480 that had been set. The IEC had engaged with national state institutions, provincial departments, the disability sector, the Western Cape Parliament, and the youth sector to encourage the people of South Africa to register to vote for the forthcoming elections. There had been a total of 3 122 735 registrations recorded by 30 October, with 1 572 voting stations set up, and all the needed material had been delivered to local offices.

The challenges that were faced by the IEC were:

• Load-shedding;
• No provision in law for a moratorium on ward by-elections before the national and provincial elections (NPE);
• Service delivery and other protests;
• High expectation of levels of contestation and code of conduct breaches;
• Temporary voting structures, especially in inclement weather; and
• Errors by voters during online voter registration.

Discussion

Mr G Pretorius (DA) asked if South Africans living abroad could register with an out-of-country address, and if they had to be physically present to vote in the countries they were in.

The Chairperson referred to the registration programme at schools, and the planned annual visits to 220 schools, and asked if this would be sufficient to ensure all the high schools were accommodated in time for the elections. Was there any update about South African embassies being ready to receive South Africans living abroad for out-of-country registrations, and when would the voter’s roll close? Did the IEC have any update on the number of seats needed to be prepared for inputs, considering that the closing date was on 18 November? Were there any contingency plans prepared to cope with load-shedding? What budget had been prepared for those plans? What impact would load-shedding have on the turnout of the votes, the proceeding of the voting process and the safety of the voters, as voting would be in winter? He finally asked what systems had been put in place to audit the signatures of individual candidates.

IEC's response

Mr Hendricks said that the IEC had to work within the context of the schools' timetables and invitations. They stopped attending the schools in October because the exam season had commenced. However, some schools had invited them to register their learners, but their resources limited them from going to every school in the province. They had partnered with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the curriculum development unit and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), for contact on civil and democracy education (CDE) that would result in a consistent and structured CDE in the Life Orientation subject. He acknowledged that it was a long-term project.

The IEC was working on an online system so that South African citizens living abroad could register, as they were aware that SA embassies were hard to access in some countries. They were expecting to work in May, taking into consideration the President and premiers’ declaration of the legislature elections, so the voter’s roll would possibly be closed by February.

The closing date for representations was 14 November, and they would be able to determine the number of seats in the provincial legislature by December.

They were limited in their capacity to work because of load-shedding. As this was a national problem, they would have to decide on the methods of managing the crisis, and the counting of votes could be moved from one voting station to another. Generators would be essential, and the minimisation of load-shedding by power suppliers could be of help during the week of the elections. The voters also had a responsibility to arrive early at the voting stations.

He said SA citizens living abroad could choose the voting district that was convenient for them, and they had to present themselves physically to cast their votes. There was no legislation in place to verify the signatures of candidates, but they would have to identify instances where there was an omitted signature and ensure that all candidates had signed.

Committee minutes

The Committee considered and adopted the minutes of 10 and 18 October, with no amendments. It also adopted the Committee report on the annual performance of the Premier for 2022/23.

The Chairperson requested a meeting with the IEC before March 2024 to assess election readiness in the Western Cape.

The meeting was adjourned.