What the Results Operations Centre reveals about SA’s trajectory

I like to hope that my wife knew, back on that day in November 2007 in a wonderful old church in Yeoville, that our nineteenth wedding anniversary would be celebrated with a local election.

There is something about our national congregation, so often in wonderful if not always harmonic voice, that I have always enjoyed on election day.

I think it’s the fact that even when we disagree and shout at each other during the campaign, on election day your first question to everyone is: “Have you voted?”

And if they haven’t, even if you expect them to vote for someone different to you, you encourage them to go and do it. 

Exhausted

This morning, exhausted by the thrill of it all, as my wife started to gather the house together, I, less than helpfully, was engaging with the Electoral Commission’s results app. 

All of the multifocal optical technology in the world was not going to help me with the fiddly parts of my phone. My brain was simply not yet up to that kind of thing.

With the usual cat-scaring grunt, I jumped out of bed (that’s not entirely true…) and poked at the laptop.

Of course it was way too early to look at anything yet, but as I turned on my favourite news channel (I think you can work out which one that might be…) I saw my colleagues already looking at numbers and trying to make some predictions.

An hour later I was scoffing at Google Maps as I decided to take my own route to the Results Operations Centre in Midrand.

Google Maps had precisely 37 minutes to scoff back, as it was clear I had made the wrong decision.

By this stage the radio was explaining just how much of the vote had been counted.

Still too soon to make any predictions. 

Entering the ROC I was reminded of something quite strange about we journalists.

No national conference

We never have a national conference or a convention. The closest we get is the odd awards evening, or when a big corporate or a bank invites us to an art gallery or something.

But we do have elections.

And nothing reminds me more of how our work defines us than coming into an elections centre.

There is the nod to the person you worked with 20 years ago but haven’t seen since, the old friend who you really need to see more, that politician who once set you alight on social media while you used a Daily Maverick column to get your own back.

It is, in short, a gathering of the wonderful and currently threatened tribe of which I am a part.

We have, I think, certain traits that define us.

Some are obvious — we don’t dress particularly well, we are slightly obsessed by what we do, we have no hesitation in being rude to someone in authority and we’re a very good person to call if you ever happen to be arrested and need someone to bail you out.

We are also, all, even at this early stage in the election counting process, absolutely shattered.

I often wonder if you can tell, just from arriving at a professional gathering, what profession it might be.

Serious attitude

If everyone is wearing really good suits and is particularly sober, perhaps it’s accountants. If they’re all well dressed but carrying serious attitude, they’re attorneys.

And if every single cluster of people is just laughing all the time you know you’ve walked into the Annual Convention of Comedic Actuaries.

I could do with an actuary or two, actually.

The numbers coming through the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) are now at a point where some serious predictions are being made.

As I write this the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research says it believes the ANC will get roughly 30% of the vote, with the DA getting about 23%. Which really shows you how big all of the other parties have become.

But the prediction I can’t get away from is what is happening in Mangaung.

It looks like the ANC’s birthplace is about to repudiate it, and that in fact they will only get around 30% of the vote there, while the DA will get 35%.

That might well be one of the stories of the elections.

I think the other is probably what will happen in the ANC.

ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe told my favourite television news channel today that where the local candidates had campaigned well, they would do well. And when I asked him if that meant Joburg was going to be disappointing, he said yes.

I suspect there will be some blood on the floor at Luthuli House when this is all done.

Normally, when you have a professional congress, the real action happens at the event itself. You leave knowing who is going to be the new leader or which faction is going to be running the show for a while.

I have a sneaking suspicion that when I finally pack my bag tonight, and head out to the car, and connect my Google Maps, I’m still not going to know.

But at least I will have spent time with my tribe. DM