Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo assures that the credibility of the commission is not dependent on a single factor - “it is an important factor, yet not the only determinant of the credibility of the commission", he said in reference to the recent leaked candidate lists of the African National Congress and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

Mamabolo said the person responsible for circulating the lists has been fired from the IEC.

On Saturday, the IEC reported that it had become aware of lists of candidates that were being circulated on social media platforms. The IEC indicated that the lists contained hallmarks that suggested it was circulated by a user inside the organisation.

“For that reason, an enquiry was instituted to establish the circumstances of the unauthorised circulation and the person or persons responsible. Following investigations over the weekend and early hours of [Monday], the Electoral Commission is able to give a preliminary report that the investigation has narrowed the source of the disclosure to a workstation that had been used to generate and store the reports,” Mamabolo said.

He assured that the reports were deleted from the workstation, which had since been secured and imaged in the presence of the staff member whose credentials were used to generate the reports.

He highlighted that a forensic analysis of the computer was under way.

“The Electoral Commission reiterates its regret for the unauthorised disclosure of the lists and the disclosure of personal information of candidates on those lists. The Electoral Commission continues to cooperate with the Information Regulator in this regard,” Mamabolo said.

He explained that several measures had been taken since the matter came to light on Friday, saying access to the report section of the candidate nomination had been scaled down.

He added that there was also heightened awareness created among all staff members, noting that corrective actions had been taken in terms of internal policies of the IEC.

VOTERS ROLL TO BE CERTIFIED

Meanwhile, Mamabolo announced that since the voters’ roll was compiled for the first time ahead of the 1999 national and provincial elections, it had shown steady growth of over 35% and contained the highest number of registered voters, recording an increase of 9.6-million voters since the 1999 general elections.

Mamabolo said that over 27.79-million voters were eligible to cast their votes in the 2024 national and provincial elections.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections would take place on May 29.

During the 1999 national and provincial elections, the IEC recorded 18.17-million registered voters, 20.67-million in the 2004 elections, 23.18-million in the 2019 elections, 25.39-million in the 2014 elections and 26.74-million in the 2019 elections.

Mamabolo explained that the voters’ roll would be certified by the chief electoral officer on Tuesday and would be published at the IEC’s head office, each of the nine provincial offices of the commission and at each municipal office of the commission.

Certification signals confirmation of those citizens who are eligible to vote in the elections, he said.

“Electronic copies of the voters’ roll which contains the redacted identity numbers of voters in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act will be provided to all political parties and independent candidates who have qualified to contest the elections,” he explained.

Mamabolo noted that the provincial breakdown of the registered voters indicated that Gauteng remained the biggest voting block, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape respectively.

“The highlight of the certified roll is the increase in the rate of representation of persons in the age cohort 18 to 39 years. This age band accounts for 42%, or 11.7-million, of the voters on the voters’ roll. In fact, the increase in this age category from the 2021 local government elections is over 200%, which vindicates the continued focus by the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to invert the under-representation of this category of voters,” he said.

He highlighted that of the 27.79-million voters, 15-million were females, saying this represented over 55%.

He noted that the well-entrenched trend of there being more females on the voters’ roll continued.