Keen watchdogs — volunteer observers spend election day keeping things ‘free and fair’

Charl van Blerk, DA party agent, keeps an eye on the voting station at the French School in Sea Point, Cape Town, on 29 May 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

29 May 2024

Many South Africans volunteered their time to help ensure a free and fair election on voting day. As registered observers, they kept track of how the electoral process unfolded at voting stations.

As people across South Africa queued to vote on Wednesday, 29 May, election observers were standing by to bear witness to the electoral process. These individuals represented more than 180 groups registered with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), including local civil society organisations and international institutions.

Observers keep an eye on the processes at voting stations to ensure that they are executed correctly. Daily Maverick spoke to volunteer observers in the Western Cape who had registered through the Ground Work Collective and Defend Our Democracy, two South African nonprofit organisations.

Tivan Leak (28), an observer at the Salt River Town Hall voting station in Cape Town, said he was inspired to volunteer after seeing Mbali Ntuli, founder of the Ground Work Collective, speak at Daily Maverick’s The Gathering 2024 in March. During her address, Ntuli encouraged people to become observers, stating: “Don’t be a passive recipient of democracy.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: Mbali Ntuli — voting may be individual, but democracy is critically a collective responsibility

“I think we expect things to run smoothly without thinking about how that happens a lot of the time. If I’m not doing it, then everyone else might have the same thinking of ‘let’s not do it and then someone else will do it’. But I feel like with a lot of the things now – even with political parties – people are starting to put up their hand and say if there’s no one doing this, we will have to do it,” Leak said.

“I think democracy is very underrated. We’ve come a very long way and I feel people my age, in particular, don’t really appreciate what’s gone into this.”

volunteer observers iec IEC staff members check ID documents on 29 May 2024 at the French School in Sea Point, Cape Town. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

He said that it had been an amazing experience to see people from all walks of life take the same ballot sheets, go through the same process and have their say at the voting station.

“Having people who don’t have access to the halls of power deciding who the government is going to be, that’s very important. That keeps us from going down a very dangerous path,” he said.

On the lookout

The Ground Work Collective volunteers used an app on their cellphones to log issues that they noticed at voting stations throughout the day. Sarietha Engelbrecht (39), an observer at the French School voting station in Sea Point, said they double-checked that each new ballot box was empty before use and watched that the boxes weren’t tampered with during the day.

Sarietha Engelbrecht (39) an election observer registered with the Ground Work Collective, at the French School voting station in Sea Point, Cape Town on 29 May 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Observers also checked that ballots were stamped; that there was only one person at a time in voting booths; that people were assisted, especially the elderly; and that IEC officials were fulfilling their roles, among other issues.

“We’ve witnessed everything here today from when setting up began at 6.30am this morning,” Engelbrecht said. “The mood seems to be good, people seem to be in good spirits. Everyone’s very helpful … I am incredibly impressed and very reassured by what I have seen here.”

Engelbrecht volunteered because she believed it would be a good way to assist with ensuring a transparent, free and fair election. “I think it’s important because it gives people more confidence in the election results,” she said.

One of the issues Leak noted at the Salt River station was that certain people attempting to vote there were not registered at that location. Some could be redirected to other voting stations in Cape Town where they were registered. However, others had been registered in another province.

“They were pretty upset that they couldn’t vote because their voting stations were in Gauteng or somewhere else,” he said.

volunteer observers A voter drops her vote in the ballot box at Salt River Town Hall in Cape Town. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Lucky Mkhetyeva (23) acted as an election observer for the voting station in Sweet Home Farm, an informal settlement in Philippi. She found it a challenging experience.

Mkhetyeva said there were not enough pens for voters to use, which caused delays. She said that when people who were not registered at the station tried to vote there, they were “chased out” without further assistance.

“They were not helped and that’s why I became so angry, because why are they not helping them find their voting station?” she said. “I’m glad I was there to observe and record everything.”

Later, a group of protesters from the local community disrupted the voting process at the Philippi station, she said.

volunteer observers Charl van Blerk, DA party agent, keeps an eye on the voting station at the French School in Sea Point, Cape Town, on 29 May 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

“A group of people came and said, ‘Why are you voting because we don’t have water and we have a lot of things that are not fixed’,” she said. “Then the police came. I left when they were striking and removing people inside.”

Ensuring accountability

Edmond de Wet, a volunteer observer from Defend Our Democracy, spent the day travelling between voting stations across Cape Town, including those in Eerste River, Strand, Somerset West, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Elsies River, Goodwood and Parow. When Daily Maverick spoke to him just after 5pm, he was grabbing a quick cup of coffee at home before heading back out for the last stage of voting. He said it was important to have observers who were not affiliated with a political party.

“I think if all of us take our job seriously, like I did today … then it definitely keeps the other guys on their toes – just to know in the back of their heads ‘somebody is watching us’. I think the role that we played today ... is very important. There’s just too much corruption and bribery and irregularities going on,” he said.

The IEC has stated that observers play a “crucial role in ensuring that the elections are transparent, free and fair, and that the outcome is accepted by voters, political parties and candidates”.

There will be an opportunity for many of the registered organisations, including international representatives from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, to report back on their observations after the election. DM

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