KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC)’s Election Observer Mission worked in close collaboration with various national and provincial organizations as partners in the 9 provinces with 54 districts in South Africa, ecumenical networks, community based-organizations (CBOs), Defend our Democracy (DOD), South Africa Democracy and Election Network (SA-DEN), Conversion 4 South Africa, National Convention of South Africa (NACOSA), and Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) during the 2024 National and Provincial elections. The description highlights the operational aspects of the voting process, the successes, challenges, and the recommendations, and seeks to offer a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses within South Africa’s electoral system and provides insights for future electoral processes.

2.Recruitment and Contracting of Election Observers

KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council, recruited, trained, contracted and deployed 400 Mobile Observers in the 9 provinces with 54 districts in South Africa to identify hot spot areas and contribute to free and fair 2024 national and provincial elections. KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council also contracted highly experienced 4 technical experts in media, mediation, legal compliance, and political analysis to form a national team that would execute election observation project task professionally. Observers covers all polling stations in Province of KwaZulu-Natal.

KwaZulu-Natal Christian Counci(KZNCC) 2024 Elections Observation Hub

3.Election Observation Processes

Dr Douglas Dziva (KZN-CEO) and representatives of key stakeholders and ecumenical networks

International Observers

 

The 29th of May 2024 election day was marked by the concerted efforts of electoral staff, security personnel, and the International Observers. The Independent Electoral Commission oversighted the electoral process, ensuring compliance with regulations and addressing issues promptly. KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council designed tools for data capturing and reporting which were used by Domestic Election Observers. 

4.Observations

(i) Success: International voter turnout was good and encouraging to other South Africans to go out and vote. Many special voters casted their votes on the special vote day. The voting day was generally calm and peaceful, with no major incidences of violence and intimidation. Mediation and conflict management contributed to peace and stability during the elections.

(ii) Challenges:  Some polling stations opened late. The electricity load shedding and shortage of voters’ finger ink were other issues that delayed voting.

(iii) Recommendations for Electoral and Constitutional Reforms:

  Problem Proposed Reform
1 Confusion around Section 24 of the Electoral Act which requires voters to complete a Section 24 A Form when voting in a different Polling Station from where they were registered. The government should ensure that substantive electoral law reforms are debated and adopted early in the next electoral cycle to avoid introducing electoral reforms close to voting time.
2 Long ques The IEC should consider a hybrid of digital voting. The online registration and voting will increase the number of young and first-time voters.

 
3 Low Voter Turnout IEC should ensure that all people who register to vote must vote in future.
4 IEC-Branded Observer Bibs IEC needs engagement as it raises questions about the IEC’s conflict of interest.
5 Election observers were confused with political-party agents and requested by IEC officials to produce Annexure 4. This confusion was observed in various provinces.

 

 The IEC should facilitate post-election review processes soon after the elections to obtain stakeholder consensus on issues that presented challenges in this current electoral cycle.

 

  1. Conclusions

Generally, the elections were professionally organized and held in an orderly, peaceful and free atmosphere. Most stakeholders believe in the integrity and independence of the Independent Electoral Commission based on their regular interactions with the Commission, expeditious resolution of issues raised, responsiveness and openness to the public. Media houses were observed to be objective and fair in covering the election activities.