I know that it’s important to one’s sanity to skip over most of the news about South African politics, because day in and day out it’s just red flags and bad news, but this is a very important week in the future of our country.

Over the weekend the party will elect its new leader, and that has huge ramifications for South Africa. If we’re being realistic, the delegates who attend the five-day 54th national conference at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Jozi are really choosing our next president.

Given how the party seems corrupt to its core, how can we rely on the conference’s election process to be conducted fairly? The Daily Maverick took a closer look at how voting will be monitored, and there are a few standouts from that article.

We’ll be relying heavily on the ANC’s electoral commission for a start:

[ANC Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte] explained that the commission consisted of 15 “very senior members of the ANC who will be at the conference to oversee all the processes”. This will involve both the nominations as well as the voting and the vote counting processes. “They will be working with our provincial secretaries, who will work almost like party agents do [during national elections], observing the elections.” The main thing is that this process is free and fair.

Sure, that probably doesn’t inspire great confidence, but there is a backup of sorts:

The EleXions Agency, on the other hand, is a contractor. They are elections professionals and do this for a living. Unlike ANC cadres, they have no direct interest in the outcome – and they have been running the ANC’s elections for most of the past decade.

They describe themselves as follows on their website:

“The EleXions Agency is ‘without exception’ South Africa’s most experienced elections facilitator, boasting broad experience in supporting the practice of credible democratic processes and accountable corporate governance within South African state- and quasi-state organisations, corporations, political parties, and NGOs.

“The decision to establish the agency came after the founding members were contracted to manage the ANC’s 52nd National Conference elections in Polokwane during December 2007. At this stage, the founding members shared a wealth of over 30 years’ experience in the field and were therefore poised to take full advantage of this opportunity.

“Seizing the opportunity to become a preferred provider for independent democracy and governance consulting, management and advisory services, The EleXions Agency has grown from strength to strength. Now the group is able to boast a broad service offering which covers every conceivable aspect of the elections process.”

You can swing past their website HERE, if you fancy a look around.

I’d also recommend you take a look at the odds for who will become the next ANC president. Yup, you can bet on the outcome.

These odds via Sportingbet:

Pop R1 000 on Cyril and get R1 750 back – nice.

Or if you happen to know something the rest of us don’t, and one of those outsiders looks pretty, you can land some serious coin.

Everyone’s already betting on sporting fixtures, so why the hell not?

Thus far The EleXions Agency’s work has been labelled ‘effective’ and ‘fair’, but one former employee did say that “systems are only as good as the people implementing them” and manipulation, if any, “would come from the party itself”.

Duarte is aware that South Africa will be watching very closely, which is why the party will be taking special steps:

ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe recently announced that the top six (or seven, or eight) officials would be elected and announced one by one, but that might take “an awful lot of time”, Duarte [below] said…

She said it would be a close race with heightened emotions, and “ANC marshals and security have been well briefed in how to manage disruptions”.

Provincial leaders have been tasked to deal with disruptors.

I hope they plan on bolting the chairs down, because we have seen those fly around at ANC meetings with alarming regularity.

We know that certain ANC members dig piping up in Parliament after a few too many toots (here’s looking at you, Mervyn Dirks), so there’s another step in place:

As for the election, “people under the influence of alcohol are not allowed to vote”, she said, and there would be sporadic breathalyser tests to ensure this did not happen.

And much like how your voting booth selfie dreams were shattered during last year’s Municipal Elections, there shall be no snapping:

Also, nobody would be allowed to take pictures of their marked ballot papers, to prevent votes being cast in exchange for cash or material gain. “All phones will be switched off completely, and people will be asked to separate the batteries if they can from their phones,” Duarte said. “There will also not be any signal in the booth, so you can’t take a photograph and there will be voting monitors, and if people do take photos, their phones will be confiscated.”

Has that put your mind at ease?

Either way it’s going to be a spicy affair, and it never hurts to have a cheeky punt to add to the intrigue.

Can Cyril weather the storm? Does Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma have an ace up her sleeve? Will Jacob Zuma mispronounce another large number during his speech?

Only time will tell.

[source:dailymaverick]