The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Limpopo has acknowledged that the 2024 general elections were not as smooth as they anticipated.
The commission’s provincial chief electoral officer, Nkaro Mateta, has attributed the slow counting of votes at the results operating centre, south of Polokwane, to gross incompetence among IEC officials and unanticipated technical glitches.
By Thursday afternoon, only 26% of the votes were counted, the slowest counting nationwide.
Mateta claimed that officials who appeared ill-prepared to perform their duties marred the commission’s execution of the election.
She also highlighted technical issues with voter management devices (VMDs), resulting in some potential voters leaving stations without casting their votes.
Mistakes are not deliberate
“Work is currently under way, but things are moving at a slow pace,” said Mateta.
“While voting is in progress, we are encountering challenges here and there because of the mistakes committed by our officials, who are not well-conversant with the system.
“We wish to state categorically that the mistakes are not deliberate. These glitches have been happening since the commencement of the voting and are still continuing even during counting.
“There are instances where there are mix-ups in the capture of the voting slips. However, we are pleased that our devices are able to detect such errors and correct them.
“There are also minor hiccups where some slips are not visible enough because they were captured by faint pens, forcing us to redo the capturing process.
“The scanning device is unable to detect what is captured on the voter’s slip that is not clear. This exercise is time-consuming when time is not on our side.
“These problems could delay the official announcement of the results in our province.”
Unemployed youth prioritised
Mateta acknowledged that some of the IEC officials were not equipped enough to carry out their duties.
“When we conducted our recruitment processes, we wanted to prioritise unemployed youth as part of the commission’s empowerment drive.
“However, it turned out that some of the people we recruited were not adept enough to carry out this workload.
“Some of the commission’s work requires candidates who have a credible employment history to manage the workload.
“We are pleased that we are able to thrash out some of these problems on the spot because we have a dedicated team of party political liaison officers who are at the results operating centre.
“They are an understanding team with open minds, and we are hopeful that these problems will be resolved in the collective spirit of delivering free and fair elections.”
There have been reports in Limpopo that some of the voters had to abandon voting due to long and slow-moving queues.
Sluggish work criticised
Resident Mavis Makhura said she waited for eight hours before casting her vote at the University of Limpopo campus in Mankweng.
“This IEC system is appalling. It’s like the commission doesn’t know what it is doing. My excitement as a first-time voter turned out to be a long, arduous, and stressful day,” she said.
“I had to stand on my feet for hours while the sun was roasting me. When I eventually arrived at the voting area, I was assisted by an official who seemed clueless about what she was hired to do.
“We appreciate the IEC giving young people jobs during elections, but next time, they should conduct their recruitment process in a thorough manner.”
EFF leader Julius Malema, who also had to stand in a long, slow-moving queue at Mponegele Primary School in Seshego, also lambasted the IEC for its sluggish job.
He said: “I am experiencing this kind of behaviour from the IEC for the first time. In the previous elections, I’d come here with my late grandmother, and in less than an hour, we would have finished casting our votes.
“I’m not impressed with what I saw during these elections. However, I have faith in the IEC’s efficiency in delivering free and fair elections.”
