Latest news with #ElectoralCommissionofSouthAfrica
IOL News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
The IEC's journey towards e-voting in South Africa
Last Thursday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal hosted a stakeholder session with academia on e-voting. Image: Electoral Commission of South Africa/ Facebook The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has decided to try e-voting again, and it is now in the policy-making stage. IEC senior manager in the office of the CEO, Dr Victor Shale, said the commission not only seeks to deliver on the procedural aspect of elections, but it also seeks to deliver on the substantive value of elections. Therefore, the commission tries to be at the forefront of innovation. 'We want to make sure that elections add value to democracy,' Shale said. Where is the IEC now regarding e-voting? Shale said that having undertaken significant work since 2013, the IEC is now in the policy-making phase. He said that policy begins when identifying an issue. 'Whether we like it or not, digital technology in elections is inevitable. We are using digital technology in elections, in one way or the other,' Shale said. He said they have done research and continue to do research. They also read and familiarise themselves with comparative studies throughout the globe. They now know what is there. Shale explained that because they are a public institution, a policy development process ought to be comprehensive and thoroughly consolidated. He said that from last Thursday's stakeholder session with the academia on e-voting, they will be able to identify policy options, followed by the policy adoption, where they will need to clearly define the structure, systems and regulations pertaining to e-voting. 'So we are in a process, making very steady progress towards a desired goal,' Shale said. He added that in policy-making, you have to consistently evaluate the performance of adopted policy systems and structures. Shale said these are some of the considerations they have: Legislative review Public education Infrastructure development Training Piloting Shale clarified that they have been working on e-voting since 2013, however, it is not something you can put together and do. 'You take time, you test systems, you make sure that everything is working,' Shale said. What next? Shale said the commission continues public consultations and public dialogues, which have been happening since March. This phase is expected to end by September. He said that following consultations, the resulting outputs will be reviewed. Shale said that the commission anticipates that by March 2026, it will be in a position to draft a green paper. This will be followed by formal legislative processes until it becomes a policy, maybe then causing electoral reform in terms of amending the Electoral Act.
The Citizen
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
My Vote Counts asks for extension and transparency in IEC appointments
My Vote Counts believes the notice and deadline for the IEC vacancies are too short. Chiawelo residents register to vote at Hitekani Primary School in Soweto, 19 November 2023, on the first day of the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) voter registration weekend. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen Civil society watchdog, My Vote Counts, has questioned the short notice given by the Office of the Chief Justice to call for nominations for the filling of vacancies for three commissioners of the Electoral Commission of South Africa. Transparency and more time needed for IEC appointments My Vote Counts has asked for the process to be transparent and for sufficient notice and publicity to be given. It also wants an extension of the notice to enable a proper nomination process, including sufficient time for public scrutiny of the candidates to fulfil the transparency requirement. The Chief Justice chairs the panel that makes the commissioners' appointments. Other members of the panel are the chairpersons of the South African Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Gender Equality, and the Public Protector. The Office of the Chief Justice only issued a general notice inviting nominations of candidates to be appointed to the commission on Thursday last week, with a deadline of Friday. The issue was only gazetted on 15 April, but no publicity was given to the matter until last Thursday's General Notice. Although the posts to be filled are not specified in the notice, save for a judge who would serve, it is understood that the vacancies were meant to fill positions of commission chair Mosotho Moepya and commissioners Dr Nomsa Masuku and Judge Dhaya Pillay, whose terms will expire on 1 November. ALSO READ: 'Can you imagine our system being hacked': MPs sceptical of IEC's e-voting proposal IEC vacancies The IEC's deputy chief executive for outreach, Mawethu Mosery, confirmed that the commission had three vacancies – one for a judge and the other two for ordinary citizens. He would not say whether the three would be leaving, except to say they were also eligible for a second term. Mosery said the IEC has five commissioners, two of whom are on their second and last terms of office. With the terms for the remaining three commissioners expiring, the process to fill the vacancies has to kick off. This meant the commissioners could be reappointed for a second term but the process is open to any eligible person. My Vote Counts wants deadline extended Many in the civil society movement believe the notice and deadline were too short. The Cape-based My Vote Counts on Wednesday wrote to Chief Justice Mandisa Maya requesting an extension to the deadline. In the letter signed by My Vote Counts' executive director Minhaj Jeenah and the organisation's political system's lead Boikanyo Moloto, Maya was asked to extend the deadline. ALSO READ: ActionSA opposes My Vote Counts' party funding case – Here's why It added that the information on the notice did not seem to have been publicised widely, with no media statement or social media communication from Maya's office or the IEC. The NGO is also concerned that there has been almost no coverage of the nomination process in the media. Only a single article was published online on 16 April, followed by an advisory on the judges' website on 8 May. 'The IEC plays a crucial role in our democracy, the Commission's independence and impartiality lie at the heart of the public trust it enjoys. Trust cannot be maintained in the absence of transparency and openness. As such, it is important that competent and impartial people are appointed,' Boikanyo said in the letter. My Vote Counts also suggested that the appointment process should be widely publicised so that the public can scrutinise, monitor and engage with it. 'Given the fact that we are six months away from the conclusion of the three commissioners' term, we are requesting an extension of the deadline for the submission of nominations of electoral commissioners to 15 June. Further to this, that your office widely publicises the process, creates public awareness, thus allowing for meaningful participation,' Boikanyo said. ALSO READ: IEC official accused of stealing election ballot boxes sees discharge application rejected In early 2022, the NGO and others managed to force former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to extend the deadline after the process was similarly given a short deadline. At the time, although some publicity was given in the gazette and two Sunday newspapers, Zondo agreed to extend the deadline from 18 February to 25 February 2022.
TimesLIVE
07-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Case against IEC commissioner Nomsa Masuku, co-accused postponed to July
The Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday postponed the case against Electoral Commission of South Africa commissioner Nomsa Masuku and her two co-accused to July 9. The postponement followed representations made by co-accused Mark Phillip Roux and to allow time for consideration of his submissions. Masuku, Roux and Ciniso Masuku face charges related to Nomsa Masuku's tenure at Standard Bank's social corporate investments programme, including allegations of transferring R800,000 to an implicated individual and awarding R400,000 in bursaries to ineligible recipients, including family and friends. The charges include theft, fraud and money laundering totalling more than R1.2m. Bail for the accused has been extended until their next court appearance.
Daily Maverick
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu: GNU
Ah, Chief Dwasaho! My leader, you who once walked with the Lord, preaching fire and brimstone at dusty crossroads across Mzansi, or so your biographer would have us believe, must surely recall the scripture, 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning' (Psalm 30:5). Let us not forget the post-election hustle. Between 2 June 2024, when the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced the final results of the national and provincial elections, and 14 June 2024, when the National Assembly convened and reluctantly re-elected you as tenant-in-chief at Mahlamba Ndlopfu. And the joy? It did not cometh in the morning. It came, almost sheepishly, in the late afternoon of 14 June, wrapped in last-minute haggling and reluctant applause. It would take you, Comrade Leadership, 288 hours or 12 sleepless nights of backroom dealmaking, sharp elbows from Democratic Alliance (DA) don Helen Zille and frantic shuttling between boardrooms. All to cobble together a government stitched with chewing gum and faith but no clear mandate from the people – the 2nd Government of National Unity (GNU). Cynics may ask: what unity? Nine months into this much-fancied GNU, there has been no joy. Only the unrelenting weeping and gnashing of teeth for the 'leader of society', the African National Congress (ANC). Unity for whom Since you announced your all-inclusive Cabinet on 30 June 2024, it has been 306 days of looking at your back, 306 nights of weeping in silence, and 7,344 hours of watching this so-called voluntary GNU unravel like a poorly stitched funeral suit. Unlike the first GNU in 1994, helmed by President Nelson Mandela and anchored in the authority of a negotiated interim Constitution, yours was not born of a national imperative but of political expedience, a patched-together survival political strategy masquerading as unity. Unity for whom? The political upper class divided the cake among themselves. For the people? Not even crumbs – so far, No Value Added, I repeat. Yet, my leader, it must be said that you emerged from your office at the Union Buildings, perched atop Pretoria, like a boss to announce your new Cabinet, beaming from ear to ear. And once the announcement was made, oh boy, the markets did backflips. The bond market exhaled and the stock market jumped. Currency traders clicked 'buy.' Investors loosened their collars. Philanthropists, old colonisers and private sector economists clinked glasses. Even those who had never heard of South Africa – like that former American landlord-in-chief, Donald Trump, who once thought it a direction rather than a nation – briefly turned their heads. Take credit, my leader, for compounding the critics' narrative that Africa (shithole, side-eye Trump) is a continent incapable of stable democratic governance, especially when liberation movements lose their grip on power or, at the very least, their parliamentary majority. Yet, South Africa, even at 30 years of democracy, five years shy of leaving its virgin territory, defied expectations. Not a single shot was fired; the army remained in the barracks, and those betting on civil unrest lost their wagers and had to eat their words, humble pie and nails. Some bondholders, both local and foreign, rejoiced at your return. After all, when someone owes you, it's always comforting to see them loitering near the till – grinning and looking vaguely creditworthy. There's an old joke that when you have life cover worth millions, the news of your death reaches the financial markets before your family. Analysts described the new Cabinet as a 'business-friendly' outcome because it included the DA – a longtime friend of big business and Monopoly Capital, despite its lacklustre 20% electoral performance – and you retained Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Investors, bondholders, and currency traders even overlooked the appointment of Mzwanele Nyhontso, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) member now serving as minister of land reform and rural development. Conveniently, they developed collective amnesia regarding the PAC Struggle slogan: 'One settler, one bullet.' That bullet was dodged in favour of investor confidence and policy certainty. They also ignored Gayton McKenzie, the new minister of sport, arts and culture, a proud former gangster and bank robber with a flair for noise pollution and foot-in-mouth disease. The man is more obsessed with chasing undocumented foreigners than nurturing the next Akani Simbine, our 100m sprinting sensation who has consistently broken the sub-10-second barrier. Under his watchful eye, McKenzie's department sent someone to the Venezuela International Book Fair who had never penned even a letter to the editor. Apparently, she went as an aspiring author. Meanwhile, my three solo books and contributions to five more titles do not qualify me. But I digress. I am left pondering which is more disconcerting: the historical chant ' one settler, one bullet ' or the Afrikaner-manufactured controversy, led by AfriForum over the ANC's liberation-era slogan, ' kill the Boer, the farmer '. GNU to nowhere It has been 306 days today since the GNU Cabinet announcement and a two-minute honeymoon period fizzled out – and still, the GNU has offered: No Value Added. It's just noise and endless political theatrics. On 9 February 2025 – for the first time since 1994 – the Budget speech was shelved at the 11th hour. The second one presented on 12 March went the way of the dodo days later. Finance Minister Godongwana, wearer of many hats and mumbler-in-chief of the fiscus, now whispers of a third-time-lucky presentation on 21 May. These delays have spooked the markets. All this stop-start theatre is a political mechanisation by the DA to reset the 'coalition' agreement with the ANC and reposition themselves as the 'Messiah' of the poor. Hence, the manufactured urgency over the VAT Act's constitutionality, despite being in operation since 1991. They went gung-ho over the passing of the 2025 Budget's fiscal framework without their support and a modest 0.5 percentage point increase over two years to plug a R75-billion hole. For a party allegedly pro-business, its frivolous litigation, pyrrhic no VAT victory, and court-ordered Budget framework vote restart can hardly inspire investors' confidence. They don't have the numbers to go it alone. Now, if every decision (employment equity law being the latest casualty) made by the GNU Cabinet or prior administration is susceptible to litigation, that doesn't bode well for the markets, which are already rattled by Uncle Sam's mood swings. Furthermore, the blanket claim that VAT is inherently evil and hurts the poor most is cute, sure, but total poppycock. What really hurts the poor is not VAT. It's the cost of servicing government debt, mostly borrowed to feed a consumption machine, not build schools, hospitals or working rail lines. South Africa has a debt crisis, plain and simple. In 2025-26, 22% of total Budget expenditure will go to paying interest on past debt. In short, we've maxed out the national credit card. Growth is sluggish, and personal income tax (PIT) is tapped out, yet revenue must be raised. No VAT increase means a real austerity budget – not the cosmetic belt-tightening we've seen in the past decade. According to Professor Imraan Valodia from Wits University, VAT isn't 'regressive'; it's a consumption tax. It hits only income that is spent. If you're below the PIT threshold, VAT is how you contribute – fairly – to public goods. We already know the vast majority don't pay for government services, so VAT becomes the easiest and most efficient way to collect billions. Meanwhile, the middle class and the rich pay both PIT and VAT. And because they spend more, they pay more at the tills. That's not regressive. That's arithmetic. In April this year, I asked my leader: Will the GNU Cabinet adopt the snail's pace of Moses of biblical times, who led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt to the Promised Land over 40 years, a journey that takes 10 to 15 days on foot? Or will it wander in a bureaucratic desert, each with its version of the Promised Land? And the answer? The GNU trajectory is clearly stuck in Biblical Moses's time by design, not omission. All of you have squandered 306 days, yet there is no Budget or economic policy, and you are just all wandering in a bureaucratic desert. Sadly, not even the much-fancied National Dialogue to craft a collective vision for SA Incorporated has materialised. Unfortunately for you, my leader, the weeping at night persists, but the morning glory is but a rumour.
The Citizen
27-04-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
IEC launches nationwide consultation on e-voting
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has launched a six-month national consultation process to gather feedback on the potential introduction of electronic voting (e-voting) in the country. Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said the initiative aims to gather insights from voters, political parties, interest groups and civil society organisations to shape a comprehensive policy on e-voting. 'Public trust is central to the success of e-voting. That's why it is critical that the process is open, inclusive and accessible to all South Africans,' Mamabolo said. While no decision has been made on the implementation of e-voting, Mamabolo emphasised that the IEC is carefully weighing its feasibility, taking into account South Africa's unique social and infrastructural landscape. He pointed out that successful e-voting systems depend on secure and reliable technological infrastructure, ranging from servers and power supply to stable internet connectivity. Moreover, any system adopted must bridge the country's digital divide and consider challenges such as low internet penetration, literacy gaps and accessibility for persons with disabilities. 'E-voting should not only enhance convenience and administrative efficiency, but it must also strengthen transparency, public confidence in electoral outcomes, and broaden participation across demographics.' However, Mamabolo cautioned against assuming that digital voting would automatically increase voter turnout. 'Those who have opted out of the electoral process because they feel it lacks value are unlikely to be swayed simply by a new voting platform,' he explained. Cost is also under scrutiny. Mamabolo stressed that a thorough cost-benefit analysis is essential and warned that e-voting may not necessarily lead to cost savings in the administration of elections. The announcement follows the IEC's hosting of an international conference in March, which brought together global experts and stakeholders to explore the feasibility of e-voting in South Africa. A comprehensive discussion document was launched at the event, outlining the constitutional, legal and technological considerations for such a transition. Key topics addressed in the document include: The rationale for introducing e-voting in South Africa Constitutional and legal requirements Available technologies and their cost implications Public perceptions and stakeholder concerns Insights from other countries' experiences — both successes and failures. Political party registration In another development, Mamabolo provided updates on the state of political party registration in the country. He revealed that South Africa has 609 registered political parties – 383 at national level and 226 registered at either provincial or municipal level. However, many of these parties are inactive. 'The Electoral Commission, as the official registrar, is obliged to maintain the integrity of the party register,' Mamabolo said. In February, the IEC issued written notices to 192 parties, indicating its intention to cancel their registration due to inactivity. Parties without representation in municipal councils, provincial legislatures, or the National Assembly are required by law to periodically confirm their continued existence. 'Removing inactive parties from the register not only ensures a cleaner political landscape,' Mamabolo explained, 'but also frees up names, logos, and other identifiers for new and aspiring political movements.' – Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
