1. Introductory background – The KZNCC, SADRA, SA-DEN constitute an independent voluntary association made up of faith and civil society organisations in South Africa. The organisations have commitment to strengthen electoral systems and processes, and to contribute to higher levels of electoral integrity through its Domestic Election Observer Mission. This mission is constituted of 5000 domestic accredited election observers who contributed to free and fair elections in a context characterised by historical political violence, violent protests and intimidation, political killings, hate-speech as well as inter and intra political tensions and divisions. The domestic mobile observers covered at least 10 polling stations by each of the 150 teams. 4000 static observers were stationed at hot spot voting stations and observed proceedings in the voting station through the day.

These civil society organisations are characterised by a common mission of strategic coordination, facilitation, and networking that encourages provincial and national collaboration on issues of rights, justice, reconciliation, moral reconstruction, and peace in the context of the national and provincial elections. We have networked with our international civil society networks such as ZESN, AU, Secretariat for the Electoral Support Network (ESN-SA) that have brought valuable experience and technical expertise to this project.

Since February 2024 we initiated weekly workshops and dialogues to mobilise various constituencies such as; (i) churches, (ii) farms, (iii) traditional leaders, (iv) tertiary institutions, (v) rural areas and (vi) townships. The mobilisation was to rollout educational sessions on the following areas: (i) Voter and balloting education, (ii) civic and democracy education, (iii) mediation and conflict resolution, (iv) lobbying and advocacy. This has been massive preparatory work rolled out in all the 9 provinces and 52 Districts across the country involving 9 non-governmental organisations.

This extensive engagement with various sectors of people was through various modes of outreach such as (i) workshops, (ii) drama, (iii) music, (iv) poetry (v) facilitated dialogues, (vi) all media platforms such as radio, newspapers and social media platforms resulting in massive mobilisation of at least 5 million people for voter registration, greater understanding of importance of voting, increased awareness of rights and responsibilities of citizens, the need to elect good political leaders as well as contributed to reduced violence as well as deepened understanding of the rule of law, promotion and upholding the independence of the judiciary and promoting the protection of fundamental liberties. In that regard, this election observation project is part of our strategy to contribute towards the deepening of a just and democratic South Africa and the promotion of free, fair, and credible elections as conditions for durable peace and sustainable development.

The objectives of this domestic election observation mission were to:

  1. Observe the general elections in the 9 Provinces and within the framework of the national and regional (SADC) standards governing democratic elections.
  2. Promote understanding and awareness of the state of democracy, electoral laws, and processes, as well as human rights in South Africa.
  3. Promote principles of democratic governance; including free, fair and credible elections to building sustainable peace in the country.
  4. Produce a report, which will inform future democratic processes and contribute to the strengthening of peace-building processes in the country.
  5. Deploy 100 trained mediators (10 per province plus a national standby team of 10) to be proactive in preventing conflicts and violence and to manage electoral conflicts where they emerge in the 9 provinces.

The Mission was led by Bishop Siwali, Executive Director of SADRA leading a panel of experts drawn from faith leaders, traditional leaders, academia, all of whom bring a wealth of expertise and experience from various election observation missions in other parts of the African continent.

Methodological approaches – The Domestic Observation Mission employed a multi‐pronged information gathering strategy which included the following:

(i) review of the constitutional and legal framework governing elections in South Africa,

(ii) consultative discussions with key stakeholders such as the IEC, political parties, Chapter 9 institutions, particularly the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Civil  Society  Organisations,  other  Election  Observation  Missions such as ZESNE, AU.

(iii) Networking with civil society organisations with the same vision, these include Kagiso Trust, Defend Our Democracy, South African Council of Churches and the University of KwaZulu Natal.

(iii) attending campaigns and perusal of the national and local mass media. In addition, prior to deployment, Observers participated in a mandatory briefing session and workshop co-hosted by the KZNCC and international observer missions.

These various methods enabled the Domestic Observation Mission to gather comprehensive information and to critically assess the way the 2024 national and provincial elections were managed and conducted.

Preliminary Findings

  1. PRE-ELECTION PERIOD
  2. Registration – Following the three voter registration drives by the IEC, voter registration campaign was undertaken in from February 2024. We note with satisfaction reports that the number of registered voters especially among youth increased in this election, even though it is yet to be determined how many of those actually turned up at the polls. We also note with satisfaction the manner in which the IEC managed the voter registration process in the country. Political parties we consulted also expressed satisfaction with IEC preparation and regular consultations. We are concerned that over 10 million potential voters remain unregistered as voters, and we recommend a rigorous and intensified voter registration campaign in preparation for the 2026 local elections.
  3. Civic and Voter education – We noted with satisfaction the various Kagiso Trust supported voter education and civic information programmes undertaken throughout the 9 provinces in order to enhance citizen participation and encouragement of voters to make informed choices. We commends the local Civil Society Organisations for the extensive coverage of voter education activities, and wish to encourage continued creative means of disseminating information, especially in remote rural and farm areas targeting traditional, faith and business leaders.

iii. Campaigning and signing the code of conduct – We applaud the political parties for compliance with the code of conduct and for encouraging their members to be peaceful. The prevalence of peace and stability during these elections is unprecedented!

We however note with concern the apparent intra-party-political intolerance among some political parties and pray that this does not degenerate into violence.

  1. Media fair coverage and fake news– We note with satisfaction the South African Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC) for fulfilling the mandate as a public broadcaster that all political parties enjoyed coverage, and commend Newsroom Afrika, eNCA and others for the outstanding coverage relating to elections. The various election related media programmes and political party debates provided opportunities for political parties and the public to discuss matters of concern to the voters. Comparatively, we noted that a few objections. We were concerned about the proliferation of fake news circulated to unsuspecting ordinary public, for example the news of stolen ballot boxes in Limpopo or the Hammersdale IEC voting material stories are a dangerous and mischievous circulation of inaccurate information. We recommend support for civil society across the country to activate trackers of fake and deep-fake news so that this is discounted timely and accurate news is circulated.
  2. Electoral Court rulings on MK Political Party and Former President Zuma– We noted that taking issues to courts rather than resorting to violence is a new trend. This is encouraged because it is a course that entrenches democracy! The Electoral Court rulings on the ANC-MK case as well as on political parties’ court bid of exclusion from contesting elections attest to the spirit of deepening democracy, accountability, and the rule of law.
  3. Security concerns and the stability and peace we witnessed – About 650 areas were identified as hotspot areas needing close monitoring. Our observers were in most of these areas and tensions did not escalate to violence and killings. We encourage continuous visible policing in hot-spot and potential flash point areas. In addition, it is essential to develop tension defusing mechanisms, and empowerment of community leaders to address tensions as they arise.
  4. ELECTION DAY
  5. International Vote – We are encouraged by the turnout of the international vote, and the impact we think it had on inspiring other citizens inside South Africa to go out and vote.

ii Special Vote – The special vote took place on 27th and 28th May 2024. According to reports, there were some glitches in some parts of the province with special voters not turning up to vote  or  IEC officials delaying to visit the special voters. In the Eastern Cape, in uMtata, the taxi operators strike blocked roads and blocked voting on the special voting days thereby robbing voters of their right to vote. We are concerned that in KZN, only 48% of registered special voters did actually vote on the special vote days. However, we noted the IEC’s commitment to ensuring that all those requiring assistance to vote in their homes were visited.

  1. Calm and peaceful elections – We observed that the polling day was generally calm and peaceful, with no major incidences of violence and intimidation. Generally, it appeared that the electoral machinery operated efficiently and smoothly. Many domestic Observer teams reported that voting in  their respective  provinces and districts  progressed  well,  although  some  concerns  and  inconsistencies  were  noted especially in some provinces.

iii. Problems with machinery and voting materials – Some polling stations opened late. All the provinces reported delayed opening as well as slow voting due to incompetent electoral equipment, as well as dependency on connectivity. The electricity load shedding as well as shortage on voter’ finger ink was another issue that delayed voting.

  1. Confusion around Section 24A of the Electoral Act – There seemed to be different interpretations of section 24A of the Electoral Act, which requires voters to complete a form, section 24A form, when voting in a different Polling Station from where they are registered. In some Polling Stations, voters were allowed to vote, while in others were sent to the stations where they were registered. On another note, election observers were confused with political-party agents and requested by IEC officials to produce Annexure 4. In this regard, therefore voter educations should be improved. This confusion was observed in various provinces.
  2. Late turnout to vote – The IEC need to be commended for its flexibility for insisting that all people in queue should be allowed to vote beyond the voting hours. This implied that many voting stations remained open throughout the night.
  3. Gender and elections – Women representation in political leadership has been declining gradually. This implies that issues challenging women face are not likely to be addressed comprehensively and competently. Recognising that the urgency of women is not realised, women withdraw from political leadership spaces. It is recommended that intentional measures should be put in place to ensure equitable representation in elections and leadership.
  4. Participation of Youth – We applaud the high-level participation of youth in voter registration and in the actual voting processes.
  5. Mediation and conflict management – We celebrate civil society’s contribution towards equipping community and faith leaders as mediators of conflicts. This has contributed to a peace and stability during the elections.

Released by: Civil society Organisations, KwaZulu Natal Christian Council (KZNCC), SADRA Conflict Transformation and The KwaZulu-Natal Church Leaders Group (KZNCLG)

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