IEC likely to have new character rather than new direction
Until last week, there was a sense among ANC MPs that Glenn Mashinini still had time left to try to steady the ship as chair. Most in the ruling party were — and many still are horrified by the idea of
— replacing a serving commission leader just over 18 months before the 2024 national and provincial elections, writes Nkosikhulule Nyembezi
For a party that has developed a reputation for indecisiveness over the past five years, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC MPs still have a habit of delaying the inevitable.
In parliament and the Union Buildings, politicians often say that politics drives the timing of decisions.
But Ramaphosa’s appointment on Friday last week of a new Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chair was just the opposite. The timing is driving the politics.
After six months without an IEC chair, Ramaphosa has finally filled the vacancy by naming Mosotho Moepya and acceded to counsel by political parties not to reappoint the previous chair, Glen Mashinini.
The IEC limped on for six months after Mashinini’s first seven-year term as commissioner ended on April 15.
He is leaving his role as IEC chair with the same dignity he brought: lukewarm.
His vacation of the seat and assumption of duties as an ordinary commissioner is unlikely to result in a prolapse due to the president’s exercise of his appointing powers.
It is hard to know how much more nudging could have been exerted on Ramaphosa to make up his mind on this issue, short of a plane flying over the Union Buildings trailing a banner reading APPOINT IEC CHAIR NOW!
Until last week, there was a sense among ANC MPs that Mashinini still had time left to try to steady the IEC ship as chair.
Most in the party were — and many still are — horrified by the idea of replacing a serving commission leader just over 18 months before the 2024 national and provincial elections.
They lobbied to allow Mashinini to continue as chair, seeing that as a necessary event in line with the need for the government to fix the damage from the ANC’s failure to combat corruption and promote accountability, including the reluctance to comply with disclosure requirements on political party funding.
This unsuccessful lobbying is the latest reflection of a slow ebbing of the ANC’s power to persuade others, characterised by several failed attempts to get the full support of opposition parties in the National Assembly.
To Mashinini’s credit, he has shown to be a team player in the commission and to have an open ear for the concerns of political parties across the spectrum.
“During his interviews, he dealt with issues facing the commission with clarity and confidence,” the ANC said, expanding on the interview panel report.
“This accords with expectations from someone who has been within the electoral environment for more than two decades.
“He spearheaded the development of the 2020-2025 strategic plan for the commission, and if reappointed, his experience and competence would enable him to make the much-needed contribution to the commission to ensure its successful implementation.”
Why would Ramaphosa reassert his authority in Moepya’s appointment against the fractured ANC’s stated preference?
The answer, perhaps, is that a damaging split had threatened to open up inside the National Assembly earlier this year between the ANC and opposition parties.
The strongest ANC faction had become so exasperated with the prospects of not reappointing Mashinini that it considered bulldozing its preference through.
Several opposition parties, including the DA and the EFF, vehemently opposed Mashinini’s reappointment as a commissioner.
The DA blamed Mashinini for the problems experienced during last year’s municipal elections.
On June 14, the assembly succeeded in a second attempt in eight days to approve Mashinini’s name, with 219 MPs voting in favour, while 38 voted against the recommendation. Of the supporting votes, 205 came from the ANC.
Exactly a week before, 190 MPs voted in favour of Mashinini, falling short of the 201 votes legally required for his name to go through.
This intense bargaining is why, as ever, the idea of reappointing Mashinini as a commissioner and even considering him as chair ran into problems as soon as MPs started to map out the alternatives.
It confirmed that all along, opposition MPs kept stepping forward from their anonymous threats to oppose Mashinini’s name to the point that the ANC began to realise that it was not a bluff and that they were determined to push for Carol Chaplog-Louw.
Opposition MPs argued that now was not the time for another gamble with the IEC’s reputation when public trust in the institution was shrinking because of perceptions of political interference by politicians.
Ramaphosa’s considerations in appointing Moepya were not premised primarily on generalisable principles but on presidential ambitions to break away from divisive past patterns, accomplishments of public confidence renewal pledges and personalities influencing his decisions on matters concerning democracy-supporting institutions such as the IEC.
The commission Moepya leads is likely to have a new character rather than a new direction on policy issues that should make our voting experience simple and attractive.
Some, like myself, would have preferred the announcement sooner than later, given the straightforward discussions between the president and leaders of various political parties.
Strengthening the IEC complements the recent filling of vacancies in the Electoral Court after the successful interviews by the Judicial Service Commission.
The question that remains in the minds of many is whether the ANC’s worrisome attitude towards the current electoral reforms to accommodate independent candidates and the plans to amend the law that governs how parties receive financial donations is about to come to an end. Or will it divert the IEC’s attention from important tasks?
The ANC has tacitly admitted that its political project is no longer attracting big donors who are willing to have their financial contributions disclosed. This call for accountability leaves some corrupt politicians wondering: what is the point of legislation limiting politicians’ power to entice party donations in return for patronage?
Unfortunately, the perpetuation of such a scenario looks plausible unless citizens play an active role in calling for accountability and good governance in our party politics.
SA would be worse off for the triumph of politics, where politicians fool people all the time, and factional politics across political parties compromise the independence of the IEC and the judiciary.