'We have to work with what we are given,' says IEC on election funding

The National Treasury has issued a statement to set the record straight about IEC budget cuts and allocations for the 2024 elections. 

South Africa held national and provincial elections this week, with special votes cast on Monday and Tuesday and the official election day on Wednesday.

The elections were overshadowed by long queues due to system failures, causing many young and elderly voters to cast their ballots well past the allocated cut-off time of 9pm. Some voters only managed to vote in the early hours of the morning on Thursday. Many complained they were unable to vote because the polling stations they had reported to were not the ones they were registered under. 

While the IEC has accepted there were challenges, some have blamed the issues at the polling stations on budget cuts implemented by the IEC.

In a statement, however, the Treasury stated that these allegations were untrue and misleading. 

“While budget reductions were announced in the 2024 budget to address the country’s unsustainable debt burden, measures were taken to specifically ensure that requirements for the elections are adequately resourced.”

The Treasury also highlighted that the Electoral Commission has been allocated R2.302bn for the 2024/25 financial year. Of this, R322.2m was transferred in April, with an additional R1.040bn being transferred between May and June.

At a media briefing at the results operations centre where the votes are being counted, IEC official Granville Abrahams explained that the IEC works on the funds allocated to it.

“We have to work with what we are given. With the budget we received, we were able to conduct two registration weekends, as we always do for elections.

“We managed to carry out activities about election day, including special votes, two days for special votes and voting day, voting abroad, our voter education programme and ensuring that each voting station was equipped with the necessary materials and staffing.”

The Treasury said funds had been allocated to the IEC for the 2024/25 financial year. 

“The Electoral Commission is allocated R2.302bn for the 2024/25 financial year of which R322.2m was transferred during April. A further R1.040bn is being transferred between May and June to the commission.”

The Treasury's statement also pointed out inaccuracies in media reports. “Assertions in the media about the budget baseline trends of the IEC reflect an incomplete reading of the budget documentation and a misunderstanding of both the budget process and the challenges faced by the IEC and voters during election day,” it said.

Abrahams noted the challenges faced by the IEC and said these elections would them the chance to reflect on what to do differently for the next election season.

“After this election we will as we normally do. We will go and debrief, we will reflect. We will also go with political parties and all stakeholders, and we will improve where required.”

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