The Independent Electoral Commission says it all systems for the national elections scheduled for the 29 May. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said that despite facing 17 court cases before the elections, they are more than ready for the 2024 elections.

ELECTION READINESS

Mamabolo reassured parties that systems have been established to ensure the transparency of the country's seventh democratic elections. "73% of the commission's election volunteers were female, 84% were unemployed, and 28% were youths under the age of 25. We say to colleagues, remember that this election is not about us, and it is certainly not about our prejudices. An election is about the 27 million registered voters whose political choice we are called to facilitate and record," he said. Mamabolo also revealed that they faced 17 court cases that were election connected. Though he did not go much into the cases the commission faced, of the 17, they won 14 with the last one being against MK Party leader Jacob Zuma being declared ineligible to stand for office because of his criminal record.

SUPPORT STAFF

Mamabolo also said that the IEC is in the final stages of appointing more than 200 000 voting officials who will administer the electoral process in the voting stations. "These staff are being subjected to a hybrid training involving online modules as well as practical modules. Cumulatively, the training endeavour is intended that staff have an appreciation of the impartial execution of their responsibility as well as competency in administering the voting process," he said. In order to improve the quality of the counting and the completion of result slips, the commission is instituting a new category of staff who will support the presiding officer with the counting effort. "The recruitment criteria for these staff are slightly different from the rest as high levels of numeracy are mandatory. Three such staff are being appointed for each voting station and each sub-station where we operate a voting centre," he said.