Nothing is as important in South Africa’s politics right now as securing election materials and ensuring that the polls, in just more than 48 hours, take place in an atmosphere of peace and the outcome is accepted by role players.
This is why the decision by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to increase security arrangements around the delivery of election material after the circulation of a disturbing video depicting ballots and other material easily accessed by what appears to be unauthorised people is most concerning. In the video, claims of vote rigging are made, but these have been vehemently rubbished by authorities.
The IEC said on Sunday: “No party nor its representatives have authority to gain access to private homes of electoral staff. Worse still no party nor its representatives may take control of election material without being authorised. We want to assure the public that additional measures have been implemented to secure these various storage sites across the country. We confirm that the commission has possession of all election materials shown in these videos. This electoral material is being prepared for distribution to voting stations in time for the special votes tomorrow (Monday).”
While relieved that no ballots have been stolen, the nation deserves more certainty than mere relief
The electoral body has blamed the new party on the block, uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party), for the security breach at its storage sites, but said all material had been secured. It said the videos being circulated relate to storage facilities in Chesterville and Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal. Election material had just been moved to these facilities to enable nearby voting stations to open on time for special votes which get under way on Monday.
The IEC was contemplating taking action against MK Party and individuals involved in the conduct that “should not be tolerated. This conduct violates the Code of Conduct and other electoral prescripts,” it added.
Why is it even contemplating? A message must not be sent to other hoodlums that they too could breach security and enter storage facilities without authorisation and get away with it.
During his address to the nation on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa also expressed concern at the unsubstantiated claims of election rigging. “We should be concerned by today’s reports of unlawful entry into IEC storage sites in KwaZulu-Natal and the disruption of election processes,” said Ramaphosa.
There is a lot that hangs on the outcomes of these elections. It is of utmost importance that the political parties and the IEC do everything possible to ensure that the outcome of this election is believable. Incidents of unauthorised people having access to voting material send very disturbing messages about the inadequacy of security around these elections. We are relieved that the IEC can account for all the material for these storage facilities. But the question is where were the country’s security chiefs when the breach happened?
The country’s police, defence and intelligence agencies have set up a Natjoints Coordination Centre to share information about threats and, hopefully, neutralise these as they emerge.
Speaking to the media on behalf of the Natjoints chiefs on Sunday, deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili assured the country their collaboration would ensure stability.
“We have no doubt that this early warning system has proven itself to be able to detect and address all identified security risks,” she said, adding that a social media monitoring team was already aware of threats that have been made. “We are not going to say that those threats are not going to happen. Just that we are aware of them, and if they do, we will rise and respond to them. As we reflect on the past week’s incidents, it is evident that our fit-for-purpose deployment plan has been able to respond to any eventuality.”
While assurances are important, words are cheap, they say. Those in charge should have, as a start, made sure that those MK Party hooligans don’t get access to IEC material. This should have been avoided at all costs. While relieved that no ballots have been stolen, the nation deserves more certainty than mere relief.
Our security chiefs ought to know that all eyes are on them, but more so in KwaZulu-Natal, a populous province that will be contested the most. Also, given the history of the province, it is important to not provide anyone a reason to doubt that the outcome of the elections reflects the true will of the people. Nothing, in the next few days, is as important as securing the credibility of these elections.
