Fate of the nation: Austerity

Why your IEC tent was held together by shoestrings [View this email in your browser]( November 2, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( Hi there, Austerity kills. We know that. And it also manifests in cutting corners and less than stellar work. Without numbers, you cannot plan; if you cannot plan you cannot run a country. This is how the former statistician general of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Pali Lehohla, characterised the country’s prospects if the organisation cannot be adequately funded. Stats SA has been treading water through a financial crisis and a debilitating brain drain. It finds itself in this situation through no fault of its own; that is not the usual squandering of money or corrupt officials as is custom in the public service. Rather, the government has been tightening the proverbial belt and slashing funding. The council that endorses the country’s statistics has had enough and has been telling the government for years: give the statutory body the money it needs (about R200-million) or the skilled statisticians who help to make the organisation world class will leave. Stats SA has said, time and again, that resource constraints are causing various challenges, including stopping value-added activities and staff being overworked. As a result, more errors are being detected and there has been a steady exodus of skilled and competent workers leaving without their positions being refilled. During an interview with the Mail & Guardian’s Sarah Smit last year, Risenga Maluleke, the current statistician general, said that late minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu agreed that there would be serious problems if the funding squeeze continues. In March, parliament’s portfolio committee on public service and administration cautioned the treasury about the effects its budget-saving recommendations would have on the body’s capacity to operate effectively. After being briefed by the Statistics Council, the statistician general and the treasury during the meeting, acting chairperson of the portfolio committee, Mina Lesoma, stated that it would call for additional funding for the organisation because Stats SA’s statistics are vital in informing evidence-based planning. The treasury advised Stats SA on budget-saving recommendations after the latest budget cuts to the organisation. These recommendations include reducing the number of district officers, outsourcing field services and reducing the number of vehicles for field workers. Stats SA publishes about 263 reports each year. This equates to at least one release every working day. These reports inform the government and citizens of how many people are eligible to vote, how many bucket toilets still exist, the extent of the housing backlog and what the consumer price index and unemployment rates are, to mention a few. Through the census, which is the biggest undertaking by the organisation, Stats SA must map out the entire country by collecting information from all households. As Stats SA notes on its website: “For many people, the census may be the only time that the state reaches them and asks them a question.” This is vital work. The architecture of our democracy rests on these numbers. The same funding issues are affecting the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Mandated with managing free and fair elections at all levels of government, it is publicly funded and accountable to parliament, but independent of the government. Throughout the day yesterday, there were worrying reports of voting stations not operating properly. In addition to the extremely low turnout, which can be attributed to a number of factors, there was the issue of voters being turned away, seemingly uninformed or poorly trained polling agents making mistakes and systems being offline. This is not to say these problems weren’t caused by human error, but a lot of them could have been avoided. IEC commissioner Granville Abrahams conceded that there had been “challenges” with new voter management devices that the commission piloted in these elections. This resulted in about 67 000 voters, whose details had not been uploaded into the electoral system, being turned away. IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini defended the use of voter management devices, saying the new technology was not the problem, but rather the shorter-than-usual time the commission had to organise the elections. “The truncated timeframe from 86 days to 42 days required that this institution should perform probably what is close to a miracle. And this is why we are where we are,” Mashinini said. Earlier this year, long before campaigns got underway, the IEC disclosed that it did not have enough funding to kit out its representatives with adequate personal protective equipment. During a virtual meeting in May, the portfolio committee on home affairs was briefed by the IEC and the Government Printing Works on their [budgets and annual performance plans for 2021-22](. Members were informed that the IEC’s election and registration costs for the 2021-22 financial year encompassed a total budget of R1.99-billion. The budget for the IEC for the [2021-22 financial year is R2.31-billion](. The IEC had [particularly noted the additional funding pressures]( resulting from the financial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Committee members noted that the budget for goods and services was reduced in the year of the local government elections. Members heard that there are 23 000 voting stations around the country with the following staff complement recruited and trained: 58 000 registration officials and another 207 000 personnel for the voting day. The personnel required to conduct the elections amount to R500-million in costs (27% of the budget). That answered two questions posed by the committee: “Will this decrease not negatively affect the IEC’s preparations for the local government elections, particularly with regard to voter education and awareness campaigns?” and “Is the budget sufficient to ensure that all the required safety and hygiene protocols are adhered to on the scheduled registration and voting days?” Yes to the former and no to the latter. We can never forget, of course, that the IEC was not on board with going ahead with these elections in the first place. The commission had appointed former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke to lead a process to evaluate the effects of Covid-19 on conditions conducive for carrying out free and fair elections on the first election day that had been announced — 27 October 2021. The inquiry was undertaken under section 14(4) of the Electoral Commission Act, which provides allowance for such contingencies. The [final report makes for all too familiar reading](. Those glitches and hitches did not occur in a vacuum. As you undoubtedly know, the report was not potent enough ammunition. The Constitutional Court [dismissed the application to postpone the polls]( — because, well, voting windows are cemented in the Constitution. Which is why you found yourself at your local tent yesterday. To many people, the eagerness of the IEC to jump on the ANC’s postponement agenda represented a dangerous crossing of two paths when, theoretically at least, the twain should never meet. It was clear that the governing party would do everything in its power to push voting day back on to the next calendar page, owing both its candidate debacle and the sense that trust in the current elected officials was at its nadir. But, at the same time, we should always be aware of the Steenhuisen in the grass. As we write this at the national results operations centre in Tshwane, journalists are grilling the IEC in a press briefing downstairs. Many of the questions are parroting the concerns voiced by the leader of the Democratic Alliance and other political parties about the perceived ill-preparedness of the commission. IEC deputy commissioner Janet Love was evidently expecting the criticism. “Prior to these elections even being embarked on,” she pointed out, “There were a number of political party leaders who felt it was in order to make truly unfounded and untested allegations against the integrity of people in the commission.” The narrative they are shaping is clear to see. How easy it would be to lob off their own poor performance at the feet of the people responsible for organising the polls. The IEC is not above reproach, but bringing chapter nine institutions into disrepute without a comprehensive understanding of what happens behind the curtains is not a smart move. Until later, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Support the M&G's election coverage]( [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( here.