“We have to look calm. We are like pelicans: above the water, they look cool but they are actually paddling underneath and that’s what we are doing. We have to give the country confidence about the work that we do.”

These were the words of Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Chairperson Mosotho Moepya at the first of a series of dialogues about the highly-anticipated elections hosted by the Wits School of Governance (WSG) on Thursday.

Moepya kicked off the WSG’s “30 Years of Democratic Governance and the 2024 South African Elections: Taking Stock and Looking Forward” series, shedding light on what the IEC is doing to prepare for the landmark election and ensure its integrity is not compromised.

Several citizens and political parties have expressed concern about whether the polls on 29 May will be free and fair, with threats of violence, violent rhetoric, and the possibility of foreign interference in the landmark polls spreading across the rumour mill.

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These fears have previously been stoked by prominent leaders like former president and leader of uMkhonto weSizwe Party Jacob Zuma who questioned the secrecy around the elections, implying vote rigging and fraud. President Cyril Ramaphosa also added fuel to the fire when he warned that foreign powers may interfere with the outcomes of the election as retaliation to South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This was further compounded when the DA wrote to foreign ministers asking for their help observing the elections, claiming that they were under threat domestically and internationally.

Election rigging in SA ‘doesn’t exist’

Moepya attempted to clear the air, insisting that there was no scenario where the critical polls could be interfered with.

“In this country, you will not rig an election. Contrary to views that people make without really thinking carefully. In this country, even if the chief electoral officer, the chairperson of the commission and others can’t show up on an election day, an election will happen. It will happen because there are many safeguards we have put in place,” Moepya said.

Moeypa added that the election process was designed with security measures in place to ensure that disputes can be adequately addressed.

The IEC chair said counting begins at voting stations once ballots are cast, in contrast to a secondary location, to ensure their legitimacy. Additionally, the counting takes place in the presence of party agents, election observers, and IEC staff.

After the ballots are counted and a result is determined for that station, a copy of the result slip is given to political party agents, which they sign. Adding an extra safeguard, the result is then audited to uncover any discrepancies. Moepya said he is not sure of any other nation that audits its election results.

The IEC chairperson revealed that the commission conducts dry runs in the buildup to the election. In these dry runs, it uses AI to simulate an election day to test staff proficiency in helping voters who need assistance, counting ballots, and capturing results. This allows the commission to identify key issues and retrain staff.

Physical vote rigging aside, in an age where technology runs almost everything and hackers are hard at work trying to invade online infrastructure, many people are concerned that the electoral system may fall prey to online attacks. Moepya on the other hand is confident in the measures the IEC has put into place to keep hackers at bay.

Moepya said that the IEC has three data processing centres during an election period, which are not connected in any way. The IEC chair added that if operations at a centre go down the commission can easily operate from one of the others, including a disaster management site. Additionally, the IEC regularly checks who works on the system and has developed firewalls and many other security measures for the system that deals with election results.

“So, I want to completely say that the notion that an election can be rigged in this country simply doesn’t exist… We are very fortunate to have developed these kinds of things with the kind of security and rigour. So people who say they are going to rig the election simply can’t appreciate the level of detail and attention that we have put into these measures,” Moepya insisted.

Litigation so close the the election

The 2024 election differs from the ones that came before in many ways. First, for the first time in the history of the nation’s young democracy, independent candidates can now contest for a seat in the national assembly. Second, 2024 is seeing the highest number of political contestants in a general election to date.

Additionally, according to polling data, the ANC is running the risk of dipping below the 50% mark for the first time, meaning the stakes are a lot higher.

Despite this, Moeypa said as contentious as the political climate in South Africa may be, it is still conducive to holding free and fair elections.

“The judicial process has helped to contribute to that climate. People are taking their differences, even with us, to the courts. As I speak to you, three cases have been taken to the constitutional court. There is even a party that said this election has to be postponed because we are unhappy with the election timetable and cannot comply with it.”

Moepya said that in other countries, such challenges would result in protests and violence, but because the judicialisation of the elections in South Africa helps give aggrieved parties an avenue to air their displeasure, violence has been avoided so far, which Moepya welcomed.

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In the same breath, however, the IEC chair acknowledged that an abuse of the judicial system was a double-edged sword, adding, “You know every good thing, if you take too much of it has [advrese] after effects. We have never been where we are today as a nation, 41 days away from an election and people are litigating against the commission about contesting an election so close to an election”.

Read more in Daily Maverick: IEC’s job is to deliver free and fair election, not battle Jacob Zuma in court

Moepya said that the commission was being challenged by new issues it had yet to experience during the six previous election seasons but that it has successfully managed to stay on course.

“You hear every day that there is a new party going to court to ask to be included in the contest. It’s as if the electoral timetable doesn’t mean anything anymore… In an election, it is important to have an election timetable and once that election timetable is settled every one of us, including the electoral commission, must comply with it, but we are seeing more and more people saying, ‘do away with it’. From that point of view, there are concerns that we have to have,” Moepya said. DM