IEC assures South Africans of credible elections amid attempts to ‘impugn’ the polls - TimesLIVE

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has assured South Africans that it has done everything possible within its powers to deliver credible local government elections.

This comes as the electoral body says it has picked up attempts from some quarters to malign the integrity of the elections a day before millions of South Africans head to the polls.

More than 29-million potential voters will have an opportunity to make their preferred choice among the 136,790 candidates, representing a total of 546 political parties across the country.

Delivering an update on the special votes taking place on Tuesday before the main election day on Wednesday, the IEC’s chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was confident it would be able to deliver unquestionable elections.

“Can we assure South Africans that everything will go well? The commission has done everything within its means, its ability and within its mandate to ensure that we ready the country for an election which is credible,” said Mamabolo.

“That includes preparation of voting officials, preparation of political parties, as well as the registration of candidates and the eventual printing of ballot papers. All those things, which are within the constitutional and legal purview of the commission, have been done. Now we wait for South Africans to play their role tomorrow.”

Mamabolo said that its information integrity unit has noticed a worrying trend of individuals wanting to cast doubts on the elections, including making untested claims of electoral fraud.

“Over the past 24 hours, the commission’s information integrity hub has identified growing attempts to impugn the integrity of the election process, especially via social media platforms,” said Mamabolo.

“Unsubstantiated election fraud pronouncements by some political party leaders have led to supporters posting videos of presiding officers and staff transferring special vote ballots, after home visits, from the carrying boxes and bags into the main ballot box. The videos are shared without context, alongside claims that something untoward is happening.”

Mamabolo said the commission is pleading with political parties to avoid making “inflammatory” statements which were misrepresenting how the voting process was unfolding.

The IEC has already dealt with some of its officials who were not adhering to the standards.

“Where political parties and candidates pick up aberrations by election officials, they are supposed to use the established reporting mechanisms so that the commission can trigger the appropriate mitigation measures,” said Mamabolo.

“The commission has already acted swiftly against election officials who fell short of carrying out their duties as required.”

Mamabolo said the commission’s digital disinformation reporting and tracking platform, Real411, had registered 34 complaints comprising misinformation/disinformation, incitements to violence, hate speech and harassment.

Most of these were made on X (Twitter) at 58.8%, followed by TikTok 23.5%, while Facebook and WhatsApp each accounted for 8.8% of the complaints.

“The commission has alerted citizens about the identified social posts spreading false information, and it has provided factual information on its social platform accounts. It has also escalated some misinformation and disinformation posts to the social media platforms for takedown,” said Mamabolo.

Mamabolo said the IEC was ready to welcome South Africans who registered to vote and who are on the voters’ roll to its voting stations on Wednesday morning.

“Our desire, and it’s a desire we have made a lot of application towards, is to ensure that South Africans come, spend as little time as possible at the voting station so that they can go and continue with their normal business,” said Mamabolo.

“Come with your ID, register your political choice, and in peace, leave the voting station. That’s really what we’re asking for tomorrow, and as the media, as social partners, as civil society, let’s all get that message out. Don’t interfere with the presiding officer. Party agents, do your work, observe what you need to observe at the points where you are designated to observe.

“Ultimately, an election is supposed to be a joyful occasion when South Africans celebrate themselves as a democracy, as a constitutional democracy; it’s not a day where we must get at each other. It’s a day of joy; let’s make it a day of joy, a day to remark on because we are celebrating the essence of who we are as a people. That’s what an election is about.”