Q&A with IEC chair Mosotho Moepya on unregistered voters

Am I right in saying 10-million eligible voters have not registered?

That’s an estimation I’m happy to accept.

Does this mean the voter education you’re mandated to do has been as ineffective as it was more than two years ago?

No, it doesn’t say that at all. It is not a function of voter education. It’s a function of what the Human Sciences Research Council survey has told us about what voters say. Many are saying they’re unhappy with the democracy dividend and will not participate.

Isn’t it your job to teach them how democracy works?

It is, and we’re doing it. But what they’re saying — and we find this out because we are speaking to them — is that it’s about their lived experience with their party. We can’t do anything about that.

Isn’t it about teaching them that voting is the best way to hold parties to account?

You’re wrong. They are saying they have given parties a vote and they are no longer willing to do so. It’s not about me convincing them. It’s not the IEC’s issue; it’s an issue with their party.

Isn’t voter education about explaining that democracy allows them to vote for another party?

They say they understand, but the parties are all the same and they’re all disappointing. You are speaking to somebody that says, this is my experience. It’s my party telling me they will do this, but failing to do it election after election. And they say the other parties are the same. So you’re speaking to a very knowledgeable voter. It’s not about the question of education.

So where do you go from here? Voter education is your mandate so you’re just going to have to do it better, surely?

It’s not education. A guy says, I’ve got a pothole in my street, I’ve reported it 15 times, it has not been done. It’s not education; they are saying, this is my lived experience.

Is the IEC telling them they can vote for another party because that’s how democracy works?

Let me put it crudely to you. You are asking the IEC to force voters to register. They have a constitutional right not to. And that’s what they’re saying they’re doing. They’re saying they have a constitutional right not to be forced to register, not to be forced to vote. They’ve tried; they’re not happy; they’re choosing their right to remain silent. And that is the problem the country must face.

The problem you face is that voter education is a central part of your mandate, isn’t it?

Voter education is happening, and happening widely. You’re pursuing a line that says the only reason people are not registering and voting is because they don’t know how democracy works. You’re wrong; they say they know. But they’re saying because parties and their candidates win and don’t deliver, they’ll even be willing to have someone come to power by means other than an election, let’s say by armed means, and, if that person delivers, they’ll be happy with it. That is damning on voters’ experience of where they are today and what they had hoped for in a democracy. It’s not about education.