Call for an end to undue criticism of the IEC

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JEREMY MAGGS: A little over two months to go before the election and a pre-poll warning has been sounded by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac). Its head, Lawson Naidoo, is writing that at a time when political parties and other stakeholders in the process should be working collaboratively with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, some, he says, have recklessly chosen to attack and undermine it. He joins me now on the programme. Lawson, why then do you think this is happening?

LAWSON NAIDOO: Well, it’s quite clear that we’re in an intense period of politicking ahead of the elections in May. Unfortunately, there have been some totally, in our opinion, unjustified attacks on the credibility of the IEC without any evidence being put forward. We’ve given examples of both the newly established MK (uMkhonto weSizwe) Party threatening disruption of the IEC should they not be admitted onto the ballot and if they do not win the elections.

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Then secondly, with the Democratic Alliance almost sending out an SOS to Western powers to come and oversee these elections, and again, without any justification, given the IEC’s impeccable track record.

JEREMY MAGGS: So how then do you think the IEC and law enforcement agencies should or can respond to these threats?

LAWSON NAIDOO: Well, I think for the IEC, they must just continue to do what they’ve done over the last 30 years to prepare well for these elections. We know that they are under time constraints, given the late changes to the electoral system, the signature requirement and so on, plus the fact that their funding has been squeezed, and they’re operating on a less-than-optimal budget to deliver these elections. So they have challenges in terms of preparing for the elections and so on. But we know that they have the capability to do that.

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In so far as law enforcement agencies are concerned, I think they have to be alert to these threats, to any acts of violence or intimidation and take the appropriate action. The Constitution, Jeremy, is very clear. It says that no person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of Chapter 9 institutions, of which the IEC is one. Elections are the lifeblood of a democratic society, and we need to make sure that we do everything to cooperate with and assist the IEC to deliver these free and fair elections.

On the other hand, if there is any evidence of any misconduct by the IEC, these need to be brought to the fore, and they need to be dealt with appropriately, but not through making reckless allegations against them.

JEREMY MAGGS: The trouble with all of this, of course, Lawson Naidoo, is that the closer we get to May 29 there is every likelihood that this invective and this tension is going to increase.

LAWSON NAIDOO: Indeed, which is why we felt it was important to say what we did in this article yesterday, to say that there’s a responsibility on all of us as South Africans to ensure free and fair elections. We need to assist the IEC and that political parties must not act in a reckless manner and where they do, they’re governed by an electoral code of conduct, and the IEC needs to implement that code of conduct and ensure that parties play by the rules.

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JEREMY MAGGS: The impact, of course, is that people might be frightened if this continues and simply stay at home, and this is something that South Africa can ill afford.

LAWSON NAIDOO: Indeed, we need to ensure that those who wish to vote are given every opportunity to do so, that there’s no intimidation at or around voting stations. That there’s a climate of calm and peace that allows us to exercise our democratic right to vote on May 29 and to ensure that the will of the people is heard.

Whatever the outcome of the election, that the process of managing a credible election is the task that is given to the IEC.

Those of us who participate and even those of us who don’t vote will be bound by the results of that election and we must allow that democratic process to unfold.

JEREMY MAGGS: Lawson Naidoo, you correctly say that the Independent Electoral Commission is operating under difficult circumstances, legislative changes, budget constraints, do you think in many ways we might have failed the IEC?

LAWSON NAIDOO: Well, I certainly think we could have done more, the government could have done more to adequately resource the IEC to make sure that the legislative changes that were required after the judgment of the Constitutional Court in the New Nation Movement case were dealt with more quickly, so that there was more time to prepare. The IEC had told parliament at the outset back in 2020, just after that judgment, of the timelines that would enable them to prepare properly, but even under constrained circumstances, I believe that they’ve done an incredible job and continue to do so.

I think there’s a lot of blame being directed at the IEC when it’s parliament itself that has failed.

We’re still waiting for, for example, for the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill to be passed by parliament before the final landscape for the elections can be properly prepared for. So that’s not the fault of the IEC, it’s the fault of both government in the form of the Department of Home Affairs, as well as parliament in terms of taking so long to put these regulatory mechanisms in place.

JEREMY MAGGS: Do you think the IEC itself needs to glove up a little bit, perhaps become more robust to address the concerns that we’ve just been discussing and reassure parties of impartiality and competence?

LAWSON NAIDOO: Well, I think they’ve done that to a certain extent, but they’ve got to focus on the job at hand and they can’t be distracted by responding to every criticism that comes their way, especially when that criticism is unjustified. That’s why I think it’s up to other sectors of society, civil society, who play an important role in working with the IEC in terms of electoral observers and ensuring free and fair elections in terms of voter education and the like, that we need to work alongside them to do that and allow the Electoral Commission and its staff to focus on their real mandate, which is to deliver and manage elections.

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JEREMY MAGGS: Lawson Naidoo, thank you very much indeed.