IEC believes it has done everything to safeguard integrity of upcoming polls

JOHANNESBURG - With South Africa’s most contested election exactly a week away, the IEC said that failure to deliver free and fair elections would destroy its integrity.

The commission on Wednesday officially opened its national results operation centre at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. 

The IEC said that despite the multiple legal challenges it faced in the last few months, it believes it has done everything in its power to safeguard the integrity of the seventh democratic polls.

Draped in suits and ties, with some flaunting their red overalls, political leaders were in Midrand to observe the IEC's readiness to deliver the country's most anticipated election.

The commission has assured them that it had put systems in place to ensure the country’s seventh democratic elections were transparent.

IEC CEO, Sy Mamabolo, said that 73% of the commission’s elections volunteers were female, 84% of them were unemployed and 28% were youth 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." 

With South Africans living abroad having voted at the weekend, Mamabolo said that ballot papers from all over the world were being transported to the country.

NATIONAL RESULTS CENTRE SITE FOR ELECTORAL TRANSPARENCY

The IEC said the national results centre is a site for electoral transparency.

The centre will serve as the main hub where political parties, election observers, and media can get real-time updates of election results.

“We bring in political parties, observers, the IEC, and the media into one facility so that every one of us can have sight of the results as they come from various voting stations,” said the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Masego Shehuri.

“Parties can compare those results to those they receive from their [party] agents and, if there is a need, they may raise objections where there are inconsistencies between the results they have received at the voting station, and those we have captured onto our results system.”