The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) must be applauded for its handling of the 2024 national election and its aftermath, amid attacks and a competitive, emotional political environment.
It registered a record number of voters, printed 90-million ballots within three weeks, used a dual-column ballot for the first time in its history to accommodate a high number of contestants and fought a record 88 court cases challenging various aspects of the electoral process — it won all but one.
Well done. Errant behaviour is the exception, rather than the rule.
However, as SA moves permanently away from one-party dominance and into a more competitive and fractured political landscape, safeguarding the IEC’s independence and integrity is crucial.
And credibility may count for little if the cash tap runs dry. With its budget capped due to fiscal constraints, chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo warns there may only be one voter registration weekend ahead of the 2026/27 local government election.
An unfunded ICE risks churning out undercooked polls just as competition and stakes are rising. Safeguarding its independence means more than resisting political pressure; it means fortifying the coffers too.
In a changing, more complex democratic environment, heightened vigilance is required. The IEC’s own guardrails are under strain: three of its five commissioner posts lie vacant. These presidential appointees, ratified by MPs, are meant to provide oversight, set policy and shield the IEC’s independence.
The other key prong in the IEC is its administration. Under chief electoral officer Mamabolo, a team of career professionals handles elections on the ground, turning policy into polling stations and counting rooms.
That governance-operations split is about to be tested. Three of the five commissioners, including Mosotho Moepya, see their terms expire in November.
A panel convened by Chief Justice Mandisa Moya has whittled the field down to eight finalists: Moepya, incumbent Dhaya Pillay, judge Mjabuliseni Madondo, advocate Geraldene Chaplog-Louw, Joyce Pitso, Granville Abrahams, Robert Martin and Nkosikhulule Nyembezi. The list will eventually end up on the desk of the president for final appointment.
Insider vs outsider is the underlying tension.
Aside from current chair Moepya, two of the nominees are former IEC employees. Abrahams and Chaplog-Louw cut their teeth as senior IEC managers from as far back as 1994, building infrastructure and guiding oversight panel. They are well acquainted with its on-the-ground systems and procedures.
Even so, appointing former staffers as commissioners runs the risk of blurring lines of accountability — from strategy to operations — and could potentially inhibit the crucial independence required of commissioners.
The IEC is too important an institution to SA’s democracy to have its credibility muddied by going against international best practice in appointing its top governance core.
SA has had staffers shifted to commissioner roles in the past — Moepya was also appointed from within IEC ranks and now chairs the commission and is also seeking another term.
Should the three appointments emanate from this group, more than half of the commissioners would be former staffers, with only two outside, independent voices.
A board stacked with former staffers invites groupthink and loyalty bias, undermine the very firewall meant to protect the commission’s autonomy.
And it is out of sync with international practice. In many democracies, commissioners are deliberately appointed from outside the elections agency to emphasise independence.
Former, especially long-standing, staffers making up the bulk of the commissioners could blur the lines between oversight and implementation.
Former staffers hold institutional memory, loyalty and biases, which would hamper impartiality in the governance role required of commissioners.
The IEC is too important an institution to SA’s democracy to have its credibility muddied by going against international best practice in appointing its top governance core.
It is crucial to remain constantly vigilant and protective of the integrity of the IEC, particularly as SA’s democratic space races towards ever increasing competition.
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