My Vote Counts asks for extension and transparency in IEC appointments

Civil society watchdog, My Vote Counts, has questioned the short notice given by the Office of the Chief Justice to call for nominations for the filling of vacancies for three commissioners of the Electoral Commission of South Africa.

Transparency and more time needed for IEC appointments

My Vote Counts has asked for the process to be transparent and for sufficient notice and publicity to be given. It also wants an extension of the notice to enable a proper nomination process, including sufficient time for public scrutiny of the candidates to fulfil the transparency requirement.

The Chief Justice chairs the panel that makes the commissioners’ appointments. Other members of the panel are the chairpersons of the South African Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Gender Equality, and the Public Protector.

The Office of the Chief Justice only issued a general notice inviting nominations of candidates to be appointed to the commission on Thursday last week, with a deadline of Friday. The issue was only gazetted on 15 April, but no publicity was given to the matter until last Thursday’s General Notice.

Although the posts to be filled are not specified in the notice, save for a judge who would serve, it is understood that the vacancies were meant to fill positions of commission chair Mosotho Moepya and commissioners Dr Nomsa Masuku and Judge Dhaya Pillay, whose terms will expire on 1 November.

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IEC vacancies

The IEC’s deputy chief executive for outreach, Mawethu Mosery, confirmed that the commission had three vacancies – one for a judge and the other two for ordinary citizens. He would not say whether the three would be leaving, except to say they were also eligible for a second term.

Mosery said the IEC has five commissioners, two of whom are on their second and last terms of office. With the terms for the remaining three commissioners expiring, the process to fill the vacancies has to kick off.

This meant the commissioners could be reappointed for a second term but the process is open to any eligible person.

My Vote Counts wants deadline extended

Many in the civil society movement believe the notice and deadline were too short.

The Cape-based My Vote Counts on Wednesday wrote to Chief Justice Mandisa Maya requesting an extension to the deadline.

In the letter signed by My Vote Counts’ executive director Minhaj Jeenah and the organisation’s political system’s lead Boikanyo Moloto, Maya was asked to extend the deadline.

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It added that the information on the notice did not seem to have been publicised widely, with no media statement or social media communication from Maya’s office or the IEC. The NGO is also concerned that there has been almost no coverage of the nomination process in the media.

Only a single article was published online on 16 April, followed by an advisory on the judges’ website on 8 May.

“The IEC plays a crucial role in our democracy, the Commission’s independence and impartiality lie at the heart of the public trust it enjoys. Trust cannot be maintained in the absence of transparency and openness. As such, it is important that competent and impartial people are appointed,” Boikanyo said in the letter.

My Vote Counts also suggested that the appointment process should be widely publicised so that the public can scrutinise, monitor and engage with it.

“Given the fact that we are six months away from the conclusion of the three commissioners’ term, we are requesting an extension of the deadline for the submission of nominations of electoral commissioners to 15 June. Further to this, that your office widely publicises the process, creates public awareness, thus allowing for meaningful participation,” Boikanyo said.

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In early 2022, the NGO and others managed to force former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to extend the deadline after the process was similarly given a short deadline.

At the time, although some publicity was given in the gazette and two Sunday newspapers, Zondo agreed to extend the deadline from 18 February to 25 February 2022.