SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ELECTION ZESN OBSERVER MISSION

Transcription

1 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ELECTION ZESN OBSERVER MISSION 2014

2 Table of Contents Background... 2 The Election Campaign... 3 Legal framework... 4 Electoral system... 5 Registration of political parties... 5 Voter registration... 6 Special voting... 7 Key ZESN Observations and lessons of the South African Election P a g e

3 Introduction On the 7 th of May, South Africa conducted its 5th elections after the end of the apartheid rule. The elections also coincide with South Africa s celebration of 20 years since the inception of democracy. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) sent a 5 member technical election observation mission to observe South Africa s national and provincial elections held on the 7 th of May The elections were marked by pockets of violence that began as service delivery strikes which had political connotations in areas such as Burgersdale and some areas in KwaZulu Natal where there were more violent contestations. ZESN s observation focused on two key areas which are the voters roll and results management system. A number of lessons can be drawn from the South African elections. Background Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow a five-year cycle, with national and provincial elections held simultaneously and municipal elections held two years later. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation, which means that parties are represented in proportion to their electoral support. For municipal councils there is a mixed-member system in which wards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists. In elections of the National Assembly, every South African citizen who is 18 or older may vote, including (from the 2014 election) that resident outside South Africa. In elections of a provincial legislature or municipal council, only those residents within the province or municipality may vote. All elections are conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, which is an independent body established by the Constitution. The governing Africa National Congress (ANC), supported by its Tripartite Alliance with the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), has held a majority of the seats in the National Assembly since They were re-elected with increasing majorities in 1999 and 2004 and with a slight fall in its majority from 69% to 65.9% in The ANC is currently led by Jacob Zuma, who in 2012 was re-elected to a second five-year term as President of the African National Congress, beating his only rival and deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, by a wide margin. Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as Deputy President of the ANC, succeeding Motlanthe who had declined a second term after losing to Jacob Zuma. South Africa went into this election as the country was beset by a number of socio-economic and political problems. The African South African has been agitating for the fruits of independence and the delusions that has come with independence 20 years later. South Africa went into the elections faced with the following problems: Increased levels of unemployment A faltering education system A health system that is over burdened and under performing Systemic and endemic corruption on the rise A litany of strike action across the country in many sectors such as mining, local government and citizens demonstration about service delivery. The country is clouded by the Marikana crisis; the place where the police shot 34 miners who were on strike. It is clouded by the Nkandla debacle where the president s rural residence has raised issues of abuse of state funds. 2 P a g e

4 President Zuma s candidature and his legitimacy was also cast in shadow by the vote of no confidence motion that was moved by the DA. The incumbent has been accused by opposition political parties of creating a crony state hence the high levels of corruption. In addition, they wanted President out of the office because of the Nkandla issue, the Marikana shooting as well as failure to provide text books to the Limpopo province for students. These efforts failed and Zuma was voted during the party s national conference in Mangaung. While President Zuma managed to avert his removal from office, there remained string sentiments within the South African black middle class that President Zuma did not have what it takes to carry the country forward. Election management Elections in South Africa are managed by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The IEC is responsible for all processes from registration of voters to the actual polling. The IEC is perceived as independent and impartial body as it reports to parliament instead of a respective ministry. The IEC is led by a 5 commissioners who are selected through a public interview process and these run 7 year terms. The commission is serviced by a secretariat which is headed by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) The levels of trust and confidence in the commission by the citizens are high and the commission has put in mechanisms that enhance trust and confidence through the creation of strong multi party mechanisms that are efficient and opening its operations to scrutiny. In addition, they have put in mechanisms such as the external auditor for results verification and rapid response mechanisms to complaints and objections that have ensured increased trust. The Election Campaign South Africa has a competitive party political system in which all citizens have the right to form political parties and parties have the right to contest elections freely. The African National Congress (ANC) is the dominant political actor in party politics. The party has won each national election since 1994 with a significant majority. Political parties participating in South African elections are required to submit themselves to a binding code of conduct as stipulated in Schedule 2 (Section 99) of the Electoral Act of Campaigning, the conduct of political party officials, adherence to dates for the submission of various election-related documentation and the promotion of political party materials are included in the code of conduct. According to Schedule 2 of the Act all political party candidates must: publicly state that everyone has the right to: freely express their political beliefs and opinions; challenge and debate the beliefs and opinions of others; publish and distribute their own elections materials; lawfully erect banners and billboards as well as any other forms of public advertisement as stipulated by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in relation to elections; canvass support for a party or candidate; recruit members for a party; hold public meetings; and travel to and participate in public meetings. There are thirteen political parties in South Africa. The parties include The African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Congress of people a new party that contested its first election in April 2009, Independent Democrats, United Democratic Movement Freedom Font Plus, Agang South Africa, the new Economic Freedom Fighters formed by Julius Malema an ex African National Congress and others. Each of the political parties has a manifesto; most of the manifestos state the issue of employment creation and corruption. 3 P a g e

5 The ruling ANC has been checked and balanced recently rather than usual. The public protector a body created by the constitution published a report in April that chastised president Zuma as partly responsible for the 246m rand ($246m) lavish on his private home Nkandla, in KwaZulu Natal. The Democratic Alliance sent around the message as art of their campaign which reads, the main opposition party, sent a text message to 1,5m voters saying the president stole your money. This issue of Zuma s extravagancy has resulted in him being labeled a corrupt leader. This became a campaigning issue for the opposition parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters led by Malema. ANC had most of its supporters in Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal but political commentators predicted that it would lose some of its supporters, in KwaZulu Natal because of Malema who has most of his supporters from there and it is also challenged by EFF in Limpopo. The Democratic Alliance is the strongest opposition party led by Helen Zille who said at a certain rally ANC was worried of how Democratic Alliance was growing and that was why they intimidated them. Zille once claimed that at two events in Eastern Cape, ANC supporters had attempted to prevent two DA rallies from taking place one near Mthatha and the other one at Fort Hare University. As part of campaign she also visited the disabled interacting with them hearing what they want. Zuma was holding rallies and had paid fees for some of the poor children. The Economic Freedom Front formed and led by Julius Malema. The EFF emphasizes nationalization and land reform to ensure that the benefits of independence are experienced by the ordinary citizens. However political debates have not critically analysed the actual benefits of nationalization to the average citizen. The costs of doubling civil servants pay and social grants have not been articulated, yet these promises have been made to citizens. The ANC has not been able to explain how they intend to deal with corruption and lower level of self enrichment as well as less politicization of government institutions and how employment will be increased in the next five years. The election came in the wake of increased discontentment and anger among the citizens about the manner in which the country has been governed. The disillusionment is most felt by the black majority that is living with the bucket system and poor accommodation. While these issues are prevalent, The ANC still draws enormous loyalty and political benefits. Political analysts are of the view that as a result of the loyalty, the majority of voters vote with their hearts and not their minds. The election was novel in that there are more new voters born after 1994 that are eligible to vote. These born frees have no direct memory of the past. The corruption and violence issues have robed the ANC its legitimacy as a party of the people. Legal framework South Africa adopted three interrelated statutes that together created structures to administer elections the Constitution of Republic of South Africa (Act no 20 of 1993), the Electoral Act (Act no. 202 of 1993), the Independent Electoral Commission Act (Act no.150 of 1993).Of these three the Constitution set the general principles and guidelines with which the electoral system and electoral process must correspond. The specific regulations governing the actual management and administration of elections are enshrined in the Electoral Act, while the third act establishes the body that runs the elections, the Independent Election Commission. The Electoral Act reviews any decision of the Electoral commission concerning an electoral matter, consider an appeal on the decision by the Commission, but only if such a decision relates to the interpretation of any law, or concerns a matter for which an appeal provided by law and investigate any allegation of misconduct, incapacity of incompetence on the part of the commission. 4 P a g e

6 Electoral system South Africa uses proportional representation for national and provincial elections. An electoral system defines how votes translate to seats. Using this system ensures that all votes count and determine which political parties are represented in provincial and national parliament. An electoral system is determined by the history of a country and South Africa has a history full of conflict and division, hence these considerations needed to be taken into account when planning for the electoral system. This resulted in the use of the proportional representation in which seats in the 400 national legislature and provincial legislators are distributed in proportion to the number of votes casts. The right of representation belongs to all hence all most parties that are voted for will be represented in parliament. The thus the party wins seat in proportion to the number of votes received. In the South African system political parties win a percentage of legislative sears that reflect their public support. While the system has its problems it reduced the number of wasted votes and all parties are winners in that if they have votes they will be represented in parliament. Registration of political parties In South Africa, all parties that want to participate in a election need to register with the independent electoral commission (IEC). The party can choose to register at the national level which will enable the party to contest elections of the national assembly, provincial legislatures and all municipal councils. A political party may choose to register only at the municipal level for a particular municipality and they can only contest in that municipality only. Party registration is undertaken by the Chief Electoral Officer, parties without elected representatives in state structures in must renew their registration annually. Party registration is largely unregulated, no legal requirements in terms of private fund raising or accounting for private funds expended in campaigns; parties receive public funding roughly in proportion to their representation in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. A Code of conduct governing campaigning is included as a schedule to the Electoral Act, but the IEC is empowered to add provisions; parties, its agents and candidates required to subscribe to code on nomination submission; failure to adhere to code punishable by disqualification. A binding code of conduct governing the political activity of parties and candidates has been legislated and campaigning on election day is prohibited; other than these provisions no date or time restrictions are placed on campaigning nor yet on campaign expenditures and the use of public resources for campaigning. Registration procedures for national election For a party to register they need to submit the following documents: An application form The name of the party and the abbreviated name The party s constitution A deed of foundation signed by 500 registered voters R500 registration fees A hard copy of the government gazette in which your notice appears Municipal Election Registration To register for municipal elections political parties need to present the following documents to the IEC: An application for registration A copy of the party s constitution 5 P a g e

7 A deed of foundation signed by 100 registered voters who support the founding party Two sets of the party s logo/symbol in the party s colour R200 registration fee per municipality Place a notice in the local newspaper which is provided as proof to the commission Voter registration South Africa like Zimbabwe uses a continuous voter registration system that is people can register throughout the electoral cycle. However prior to each election, the IEC conducts voter registration drives that are intended to ensure that all eligible voters register to vote during an impending election. During this period, more staff in engaged and registration centres are created to process new registrations and amend old registrations. Voter registration is not compulsory for citizens it is voluntary. Voters register in the voting district in which they are resident and they vote at the polling station where they registered although they can vote from any polling station on Election Day. In November 2013, the IEC allocated a weekend to voter registration. Amidst fears of voter apathy, the Independent Electoral Commission registered stated that over 2.5 million people visited registration centres. Of these 1,088,105 (43.3%) were new voters registering for the first time. 1.4 million visited the stations did so to confirm or change their registration. The IEC is concerned that only 22 % of the youths between ages registered to vote, showing low levels of interest in electoral processes by this age group. Voter registration is continuous, registration drives before elections; registration conducted by the chief electoral officer; the applicant is required to fill in form and provide identification; a registration bar-code is placed in the voter's ID book. A single national voter s roll is compiled and maintained by the Chief Electoral Officer who must conduct periodic general registrations and publish the final product; the existing roll must always be available for inspection at the IEC's head office, relevant sections must be made available for inspection after general registrations and before elections at provincial and municipal levels; copies made from it must be supplied to anyone who pays the prescribed fee. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is responsible for voter registration and has the responsibility of compiling the voters roll by means of a system of registering eligible voters by utilizing data available from government sources and information furnished by voters. However, political parties, the media and civil society organisations also play a very active role in the registration process. Besides monitoring the registration process, these parties provide eligible voters with valuable information regarding the registration dates and procedures and they further encourage citizens to register with the electoral body. The IEC maintains a continuous voter registration process which it intensifies in the period before the election. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), 2.3-million new voters have registered to vote on May 7, bringing the number of registered voters to 25.3-million. This is just shy of the 31.4-million people who are of voting age. Although over 80% of all new registrations were young people, the IEC is still concerned about the low percentage of year olds who are registered only 22.6%. This means that new generation voters born after 1994 are yet to get excited about the prospect of voting for the first time. The zip zip machine From 2009 to date, South Africa began using the zip zip machine which is battery powered and a bar code reading machine. This machine collects voter data by reading the bar code on a person s identity document, the 6 P a g e

8 data is collated through the Municipal Electoral Offices (MEOs), the data is sent by wide area network (WAN) to the IEC headquarters where the data is matched with National Population Register to verify identity and compiled into a voters roll for each voting districts. Duplicates can be avoided and transfers matched as each unique identity number can have one entry. Rolls for the relevant voting districts are permanently on display at the Municipal Electoral Offices (MEOs). This allows the voters roll to be verified, amended, new registrations and amendments to registrations. The table below shows the number of registered in South Africa. The IEC disaggregated by AGE GROUP FEMALE MALE Total Number of registered voters Total male and female registered voters (77%) of eligible voters Special voting In order to take care of persons living outside the country or those who may have problems accessing the polling station on Election Day, South Africa has provisions for advance voting. The following categories of people can apply for special voting: Registered who cannot vote at their voting stations on Election Day and they can cast this vote at the polling station they are registered in. The elderly The sick Pregnant women Persons with disabilities Electoral officials and security officials working outside their voting district on election day South African who are living outside the country who are registered as voters 7 P a g e

9 These people may apply for a home visit so that they vote from their homes. Applications for the special vote opened from the 7 th of April to the 17 th of April Special votes took place from the 5 th of May to the 6 th of May Home visits were made and polling stations were applications to vote in advance had been made were opened from 7am to 1700hrs. Those that had a few voters closed earlier once the number of people who had applied had finished voting. National Results 1 Political Party African National Congress (ANC) Democratic Alliance (DA) 2009 votes 2014 votes 2009 % 2009 seats 2014 seats 2014 % 11,650,748 11,436, ,945,829 4,091, EFF new 1,169,259 new new Congress of the People (COPE) 1,311, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 804, National Freedom Party New New New United Democratic Movement (UDM) 149, Freedom Front Plus 146, African Independent Congress New New New African Christian Democratic Party 142, United Christian Democratic Party 66, ZESN did not include parties that did not win any sit in this table though there were more political parties that contested. 8 P a g e

10 Pan Africanist Congress African People's Convention 48, , Agang SA New New New The table below shows the number of votes cast in this election: Number % Valid votes casts % Spoilt votes % Total votes cast % Registered voters/turnout Provincial results Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Eastern cape ANC DA UDM EFF COPE AIC Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Free state ANC DA EFF VF Plus COPE P a g e

11 Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Gauteng ANC DA EFF VF Plus IFP ACDP COPE Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Kwazulu Natal ANC DA IFP NFP EFF MF ACDP Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Limpopo ANC EFF DA COPE P a g e

12 Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Mpumalanga ANC DA EFF BRA Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote North west ANC EFF DA VF Plus Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Northern Cape ANC DA EFF COPE Province Political party Number of seats won % of vote Western Cape DA ANC EFF ACDP P a g e

13 Key ZESN Observations and lessons of the South African Election Voter registration South Africa has chosen a voter registration system that works for them. While it is not biometric, it is polling station based which uses technology such the zip zip machine. The zip zip machine is loaded with all the registered voters in South Africa. During the election, the zip zip machine enabled voters to be processed quickly as a result of locating the location of the voter in the hard copy of the voters roll. Their voter registration process was inclusive and ensured that an estimated 77 per cent of eligible voters are registered. Thus Zimbabwe needs to create its voter registration system that takes into account the costs, context and the resources as well as the technical expertise of the commission. Results management The IEC has invested in technological infrastructure for results management from the provincial centres to the national results operations centre. The IEC has independent auditors at provincial levels for the verification of results. This system increases transparency and confidence by political parties in the results system. The IEC is currently using Price Cooper Waterhouse as the audit company. The IEC results operations centre is set up in a way that all verified results are uploaded on the system and displayed for all stakeholders to see. Thus political parties can track progress as results come in from the various provinces. The system ensured openness and transparency. The results operations centre is set in a way that enables access to information by key stakeholders who are provided with space to operate from. Thus the set up ensures that all accredited media houses, registered political parties and interested persons have access to the centre. The media houses present at the centre were diverse ranging from state owned to private media. They were able to access to information on the process as the elections unfolded. In addition, the police are on site to provide rapid response to electoral issues requiring police investigations and to keep alert to potentially hot spot areas. Results projections As the information on results came in the IEC was able to provide a projection of how the political parties in the race performed well before all the results were in. this enhanced trust and confidence as it showed that the commission was committed to transparency and no under hand activities would take place in the background. Electoral complaints and objections management The IEC put in place a legal resources booth to address electoral objections and problems raised by political parties. This ensured speedy resolution of disputes. If the legal team failed to resolve the issues they would be referred to the commission and if the parties aggrieved were not satisfied, they would refer to the electoral 12 P a g e

14 court. The system also ensured that results for an area where objections had been made were not announced until a resolution had been reached. Commission interface with stakeholders The commission provided periodic updates throughout the process. Thus there was no information blackout. Where there problems they were able to point out areas in which problems were being experienced. Constant updates add citizen confidence in the process and increases trust levels. Technology consumption by the IEC The IEC has used technological advancement to its advantage to make electoral processes such as voter registration and the results management more efficient and accessible to the citizens and other stakeholders. The IEC used technology during voter registration, voters can check their registration status online, external voters could apply to vote outside South Africa on line and voter education also took place on line using the voting game. Thus the IEC has used technology to capture the young and tech savvy part of the South African population. 13 P a g e

15 Annex 1 Political parties participating in the provincial elections Province Parties contesting in provincial elections Eastern Cape 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African Independent Congress 3. African National Congress 4. African People's Convention 5. Agang South Africa 6. Azanian People's Organisation 7. Congress of the People 8. Democratic Alliance 9. Economic Freedom Fighters 10. Inkatha Freedom Party 11. Kingdom Governance Movement 12. National Freedom Party 13. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 14. Patriotic Movemement of South Africa 15. United Christian Democratic Party 16. United Congress 17. United Democratic Movement 18. Vryheidsfront Plus Gauteng 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 4. Agang South Africa 5. Azanian People's Organisation 6. Congress of the People 7. Democratic Alliance 8. Economic Freedom Fighters 9. Front Nasionaal/Front National 10. Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa 11. Inkatha Freedom Party 12. Kingdom Governance Movement 13. Lekgotla for Democracy Advancement 14. Merafong Civic Association 15. Minority Front 16. National Freedom Party 17. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 18. Patriotic Alliance 19. United Christian Democratic Party 20. United Democratic Movement 21. Vryheidsfront Plus 22. Workers and Socialist Party Limpopo 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 14 P a g e

16 3. African People's Convention 4. Agang South Africa 5. Azanian People's Organisation 6. Congress of the People 7. Democratic alliance 8. Economic freedom fighters 9. Inkatha Freedom Party 10. Lekgotla for Democracy Advancement 11. Merafong Civic Association 12. National Freedom Party 13. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 14. South African Maintanance And Estate Beneficiaries Association 15. Unemployment Movement SA 16. United Christian Democratic Party 17. United Democratic Movement 18. Vryheidsfront Plus 19. Workers and Socialist Party 20. Ximoko Party North West 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 4. Agang South Africa 5. Azanian People's Organisation 6. Congress of the People 7. Democratic Alliance 8. Economic Freedom Fighters 9. Inkatha Freedom Party 10. National Freedom Party 11. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 12. South African Political Party 13. United Christian Democratic Party 14. United Democratic Movement 15. Vryheidsfront Plus 16. Workers and Socialist Party Western Cape 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African Independent Congress 3. African National Congress 4. African National Party 5. African People's Convention 6. Agang South Africa 7. Al jama-ah 8. Azanian People's Organisation 9. Congress of the People 10. Democratic Alliance 11. Economic Freedom Fighters 12. First Nation Liberation Alliance 13. Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa 14. Indigenous Peoples Organisation 15 P a g e

17 15. Inkatha Freedom Party 16. Kingdom Governance Movement 17. National Freedom Party 18. National Party South Africa 19. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 20. Patriotic alliance 21. Peoples Alliance 22. Sibanye Civic Association 23. South African Progressive Civic Organisation 24. United Christian Democratic Party 25. United Democratic Movement 26. Vryheidsfront Plus Free State 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 4. Agang South Africa 5. Azanian people's Organisation 6. Congress of the People 7. Democratic Alliance 8. Economic Freedom Fighters 9. Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa 10. Inkatha Freedom Party 11. National Freedom Party 12. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 13. Patriotic Alliance 14. United Christian Democratic Party 15. United Democratic Movement 16. Vryheidsfront Plus KwaZulu-Natal 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 4. Azanian People's Organisation 5. Congress of the People 6. Democratic Alliance 7. Economic Freedom Fighters 8. Inkatha Freedom Party 9. Kingdom Governance Movement 10. Kwa-zulu Natal Transport Alliance 11. Minority Front 12. National Freedom Party 13. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 14. Truly Alliance 15. Ubumbano Lwesizwe Sabangoni 16. United Christian Democratic Party 17. United Democratic Movement 18. Vryheidsfront Plus Mpumalanga 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 16 P a g e

18 4. Agang South Africa 5. Azanian People's Organisation 6. Bushbuckridge Residents Association 7. Congress of the People 8. Democratic Alliance 9. Economic Freedom Fighters 10. Inkatha Freedom Party 11. National Freedom Party 12. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 13. Sindawonye Progressive Party 14. United Christian Democratic Party 15. United Democratic Movement 16. Vryheidsfront Plus Northern Cape 1. African Christian Democratic Party 2. African National Congress 3. African People's Convention 4. Azanian People's Organisation 5. Congress of the People 6. Democratic Alliance 7. Economic Freedom Fighters 8. First Nation Liberation Alliance 9. Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa 10. Inkatha Freedom Party 11. National Freedom Party 12. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 13. Patriotic Alliance 14. United Christian Democratic Party 15. United Democratic Movement 16. Vryheidsfront Plus 17 P a g e