Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs

Roles, Mandates and Challenges

19 August 2014

Presentation Outline

• The Legal Framework

• The Electoral Commission

• Vision 2018

• Electoral Systems

• Preparations for the 2016 Local Government

Elections (LGE)

• Current Challenges

• Discussion 2

The Electoral Commission…

• Is established by the Constitution of the Republic of

South Africa

• Is independent and subject only to the Constitution and

the law

• Must be impartial in exercising its powers and perform

its functions without fear, favour or prejudice

• Is accountable to the National Assembly

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The Legislative MandateThe Constitution• In terms of Section 181 of the Constitution, the Electoral

Commission is one of the institutions that strengthens constitutional democracy

• Other organs of state, through legislative or other measures, must assist and protect the Electoral Commission to ensure the independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness of the institution

• No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the Electoral Commission

• In terms of Section 190 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), the Electoral Commission must – manage elections of national, provincial and municipal

legislative bodies in accordance with national legislation; – ensure that those elections are free and fair; and– declare the results of those elections within a period that must

be prescribed by national legislation and that is as short as reasonably possible.

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Electoral Commission Act…1• The duties and functions of the Electoral Commission are defined in

section 5 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996. These include to –

a) manage any election;b) ensure that any election is free and fair;c) promote conditions conducive to free and fair elections;d) promote knowledge of sound and democratic electoral processes; e) compile and maintain a voters' roll by means of a system of registering eligible voters by utilising data available from

government sources and information furnished by voters;f) compile and maintain a register of parties;g) establish and maintain liaison and co-operation with parties;h) undertake and promote research into electoral matters;

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Electoral Commission Act…2i) develop and promote the development of electoral expertise and

technology in all spheres of government;j) continuously review electoral legislation and proposed electoral

legislation, and to make recommendations in connection therewith;k) promote voter education;l) promote co-operation with and between persons, institutions,

governments and administrations for the achievement of its objects;m) declare the results of elections for national, provincial and municipal legislative bodies within seven days after such elections;n) adjudicate disputes which may arise from the organisation, administration or conducting of elections and which are of an administrative nature; ando) appoint appropriate public administrations in any sphere of government to conduct elections when necessary.

• Section 2 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996, includes the holding of a referendum as one of the mandates of the Commission.

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Appointment of Members of the Commission

• The Electoral Commission consists of five members, one of whom must be a judge

• Commissioners are appointed for a term of seven years, which is renewable only once

• The process is a public one, which culminates in the appointment by the President

• A new Commission was constituted on 4 November 2011• The details of the Commissioners are as follows:

– Adv FDP Tlakula (Chairperson)– Mr IT Tselane (Vice-Chairperson)– Judge GM Makhanya– Rev BB Finca– Ms R Taljaard

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ORGANOGRAM

Electoral Commission

Chief Electoral Officer

Deputy CEO:Corporate Services

Office of the CEO

Human ResourcesSkills Dev & Training

Support Services

Civic Education, Research &Knowledge Management

Deputy CEO:Electoral Operations

Logistics &Infrastructure

Electoral Processes:Voters’ Roll, Delimitation & Voting & Counting, etc

Information CommunTechnology

FinancialManagement

Internal Audit

Communications

9 PEOs

Deputy CEO:Outreach

Legal Services

CommissionServices

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Organisational structure

• The Commission appoints the Chief Electoral Officer. The Chief Electoral Officer is the head of administration and accounting officer of the Electoral Commission. The Chief Electoral Officer also performs other duties and functions assigned to him or her by the Commission, the Electoral Commission Act, or any other law.

• The Chief Electoral Officer appoints officers and employees of the Electoral Commission in consultation with the Commission.

• The staffing establishment provides for three Deputy CEOs – one each for Corporate Services, Outreach and Electoral Operations.

• There is one Provincial Electoral Officer for each provincial office of the Electoral Commission.

• There are 234 local offices of the Electoral Commission• The organogram of the Electoral Commission provides for 1 034

positions.

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Corporate Services• Corporate Services provide enabling business

processes and systems in respect of financial management and information and communication technology, legal services, human resources management and facilities management to efficiently and effectively support the core business of the Electoral Commission.

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Electoral Operations• Electoral Matters facilitates the participation of voters

in regular free and fair elections, using sustainable systems, people and processes. Activities included are the delimitation of boundaries, maintenance of the national voters’ roll and the planning and co-ordination of activities during registration week-ends, on Election Day and special voting days, as well as for home visits.

• Logistics and Infrastructure provides logistics, warehousing and distribution infrastructure such as voting stations and municipal electoral offices, electoral materials and equipment as specified in the bill of materials and voting station staffing plans.

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Outreach• Civic and Electoral Democracy Education informs and educates

the public on electoral democracy with a view to strengthening participation electoral processes.

• Research optimises available data in order to inform organisational planning and other decision making processes.

• Communications actively supports the Electoral Commission’s efforts to strengthen electoral democracy and ensure free and fair elections. It works to protect and enhance the image of the Electoral Commission through strategic communication with the Commission’s stakeholders, including political parties.

• Stakeholder Engagement and Liaison engages and liaises with a set of stakeholders nationally and internationally in order to promote knowledge of and adherence to democratic electoral principles and promotes collaboration with the same when necessary.

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Budget allocation

Financial Year Amount

2014/15 R1,590,275,063

2015/16 R1,556,605,000

2016/17 R1,638,309,747

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Vision 2018: Vision Statement

To be a pre-eminent leader in electoral democracy

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Vision 2018: Mission StatementThe Electoral Commission is an independent constitutional body which manages free and fair elections of legislative bodies and institutions through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society in deepening electoral democracy.

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VALUES• To enable the Electoral Commission to serve the needs of

stakeholders, including the electorate, political parties, the media and permanent and temporary staff, the organisation subscribes to the following organisational values: – IMPARTIALITY – INTEGRITY– ACCOUNTABILITY – TRANSPARENCY– PARTICIPATION– RESPONSIVENESS– RESPECT

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Strategic Goals1. Strengthening governance, institutional excellence,

professionalism and enabling business processes, at all levels of the organisation

2. Achieving pre-eminence in the area of managing elections and referenda, including the strengthening of cooperative relationships with political parties

3. Strengthening electoral democracy

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Commission Oversight• Members of the Commission have allocated provinces

among themselves in order to ensure effective oversight– Commissioner Tlakula

• Western Cape, Free State, Limpopo

– Commissioner Tselane

• Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape

– Commissioner Finca

• Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga

• Commissioners Taljaard and Makhanya, who are not full-time, work across all provinces as their schedules permit

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Commission Committees• The Commission has established the following Commission

Committees– Election Management Committee – Chairperson: Commissioner

Tlakula– Finance, Risk and Compliance Committee – Chairperson:

Commissioner Tselane– Governance and Ethics Committee – Chairperson: Commissioner

Tlakula– Human Resources Governance Committee – Chairperson:

Commissioner Tselane– Outreach, Communications and International Relations Committee

– Chairperson: Commissioner Finca– Research, Publications and Knowledge Management Committee –

Chairperson: Commissioner Finca

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The Electoral System

National & Provincial Elections• 5 national and provincial elections have been held

in 1994,1999, 2004, 2009, and in 2014• 400 seats in National Assembly• Closed Party List PR System where half of the 400

representatives are elected from regional lists and half from national lists

• 10 elections on one day• Voters receive two ballots (national & provincial)

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Electoral System (Continued)

Municipal Elections• 3 Municipal elections have been held ( 2000, 2006 and

2011). Next Elections in 2016.

• Closed List PR and ward constituency

• Half of the Councilors are elected in Wards and Half from party lists. Ward candidates are nominated individually and parties compile closed lists.

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Towards 2016 Local Government Elections• The term of municipal councils is 5 years• The present term expires on 17 May 2016• Elections must be held between 18 May and 17 August

2016• It is possible to have elections earlier if councils are

dissolved• Commencement of the electoral process contingent on

the finalization of ward delimitation• Voting districts are likely to be split by ward boundaries• Targeted registration and communication campaign• Two registration weekends necessary

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Towards 2016 Local Government Elections• Minister of COGTA to proclaim formulae for the

determination of the numbers of councilors• Formulae is to based on the certified voters roll for 2014

NPE: 25 390 150• MEC’s of local government to apply the formulae and

determine numbers of councilors per municipality• Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to delimit ward

boundaries in line with the determination by MEC’s • MDB to hand over finalize wards to the Electoral

Commission to commence electoral process

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Challenges• Timeous finalization of formulae for the determination

of councilors and the ensuing delimitation of wards• Closing the voter registration gap (enrolling the youth)• Consolidating legislative amendments: It is necessary to

review certain aspects of the Municipal Structures Act and the Municipal Electoral Act before elections

• Demarcation disputes tend to have spill over effects on the electoral process

• Tensions and protests within communities• Diminishing participation by observers

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Challenges• Meaningful presence and participation of party agents• Infrastructure disparities between established and

informal settlements, urban and rural areas• Strengthening liaison with unrepresented political

parties• Vigilance on the registration of voters ahead of

contentious by elections

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End of Presentation

Discussion

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