The IEC launched a beautiful campaign on  Wednesday 9 June to get young people to register for the local government election still slated for 27 October, but the IEC Commission chairperson Glen Mashinini said the organisation is concerned elections can become a Covid-19 superspreader event.  

He said the IEC is on the horns of a cruel dilemma posed by the pandemic which means it has to balance the “tyranny of elections becoming a superspreader event” against the “tyranny of democratic backsliding” if the elections are postponed. 

“The IEC is of the view that we are technically ready for the elections as things currently stand,” said Mashinini. He added that the IEC had learnt from more than 100 countries that had held pandemic-era elections and he said the safety protocols had been tested in over 150 by-elections held since the country entered a state of Covid-19 national disaster. 

Chair of the Electoral Commission Glen Mashinini. (Screenshot: YouTube/SABC)

These systems had worked. He added that “The Commission cannot be oblivious to the threat of Covid-19”.  The Constitution sets a political term of five years and 90 days after which elections must be held. For some of the by-elections, the IEC approached the Electoral Court to push out the deadline for short periods to avoid infection waves.  

It can do so again, but Commissioners say that any postponement must be limited. “We dare not let Covid take away our hard-won democratic gains,” said Mashinini who said that the pandemic had taken much from South Africa in the way of lives, jobs and livelihoods. 

The IEC has had substantial budget cuts and will only do a voter single voter registration weekend on 17 and 18 July. It has bought new voter management devices to replace the old ‘zip-zip’ machines which were not geared for new smart IDs. The IEC plans to proclaim the election on 2 August which is when it closes the voters roll to begin the process to fill 10,478 local government seats in 4,468 wards. In May 2021, there were 25.78 million registered voters which the IEC hopes to increase after the campaign launch. Young people between the ages of 20 and 29 years old make up 17% of the voters roll and are being targeted for registration. 

The IEC has worked hard to meet a court order to ensure that voters are matched with their addresses. By 4 May 2021, the institution had complete addresses for 93.8% of people on the voters’ roll. People without a known address will only be able to vote for the proportional representation candidates and not for ward candidates.  

Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. (Photo: Gallo Images/Business Day/Martin Rhodes)

Judge Dikgang Moseneke, the former deputy chief justice, is taking written submissions on whether the conditions for free and fair elections can be met with the strictures imposed by Covid-19. He has set a timetable for written and oral submissions with hearings planned to start the week of 28 June 2021. DM