The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the House Chairperson Cedric Frolick to schedule a special joint sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs to which the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) reports, and the Portfolio Committee on Police to discuss operational readiness ahead of the 2019 general elections.
While we note that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is already set to brief Parliament on election day readiness, the IEC should also join this briefing as the elections is a joint competency between the two agencies.
The DA has requested that this critical session is scheduled before the Fifth Parliament rises as we are of the view that the operational details of the IEC and the SAPS for this crucial election day have not been properly or fully tabled before or interrogated by Parliament.
Our Constitutional Democracy relies on an absolutely watertight operation from the IEC, and it is therefore critical that previous incidents of irregularities, misconduct and wrongdoing on the part of the IEC be interrogated fully by Parliament.
In January this year the DA tabled written questions to the Minister of Home Affairs on critical areas of IEC failures during the 2016 elections, and the Minster’s replies at best obfuscated and at worst ignored the questions asked. This indicates that the Minister of Home Affairs, on behalf of the IEC, does not intend to properly account to Parliament.
The most concerning aspects of the IEC operations on Election Day include:
- Ballot papers frequently run out at the same voting stations,
- Certain Presiding Officers displaying clear bias,
- Electoral violence affecting voting stations not being pursued to criminal conviction,
- Zip-Zip machines failing for hours on end at certain voting stations, and
- The slow rate of VEC10 forms being submitted because of cumbersome identification requirements for South Africans living abroad
The SAPS must equally answer to Parliament on their preparations for the campaigning period and election day, including:
- Their plans to prevent violence and intimidation during the party campaigning period,
- Their plans to overcome violent protests that threaten the voting process in certain areas, and
- Their operational plans for election day to secure voting stations and prevent any electoral misconduct.
These are fundamental questions underscoring our constitutional democracy.
The IEC and SAPS must account to Parliament on their operations, in order to ensure the public and political parties that they are intent on delivering on their constitutional mandate of a free and fair election.