ESN-SA -ZESN JOINT PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ON SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTIONS

INTRODUCTION

The Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA) and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) jointly deployed a ten-member observer mission with experienced observation practitioners to observe polling processes in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape Provinces during the National and Provincial elections. The primary objective of the Joint Observer Mission was to evaluate whether the South African electoral process adhered to national laws and to determine if the country’s electoral framework aligns with regional and international principles, norms, standards, and best practices. This initiative underscores the Network’s dedication to advancing democratic integrity and transparent electoral processes throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

METHODOLOGY
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) accredited the Joint Mission via an online portal. The process was simple and efficient, reducing logistical hurdles for the IEC, ESN-SA, and ZESN members. The Joint Mission deployed three (3) teams in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape Provinces that met with electoral stakeholders, including the Independent Electoral Commission’s Provincial Representatives, the Police, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and Faith-Based Organisations. In its assessment of the elections, the Joint Mission used various international, regional normative and legal instruments for democratic elections as benchmarks: the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring, and Observation (PEMMO) and South Africa’s legal framework.
The Joint Election Observation Mission closely observed special voting on May 27 and 28, 2024, and the National and Provincial Elections (NPEs) on May 29, 2024.

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ZESN Position Paper on Recalls, Subsequent By-elections & Lessons Learnt

This position paper attempts to interrogate whether and under which conditions
Zimbabwe might maintain a right to decide to recall or ‘un-elect’ those elected
representatives. A recall is a ‘mechanism to allow the removal of an elected official from
1 office before his or her term is complete, without waiting for the next general election’ .
From the premise of normative democratic theory, it is a valuable instrument of direct
democracy that can give citizens more control over their representatives to expand
opportunities for reinforcing legitimate and responsive governance and continuous
accountability. This conceptualisation is more relevant in a political system based on
representative democracy where citizens vote for representatives to act on their behalf
2 and in their interest. Yet once elected, officials do not exclusively represent their parties
that nominated them to be candidates but must be representatives of the Zimbabwean
People. This raises the global question as to whether and under which conditions voters
3 might maintain a right to decide to recall or ‘un-elect’ those elected representatives.

To provide insights to the question, a review was made to the relevant constitutional
provisions, constitutional court rulings and related literature and the experiences of other
jurisdictions in Europe, United Kingdom, North America, Latin America and Africa. One
critical observation was that recalls are more prevalent in most undeveloped, emerging
and semi- democratic states compared to more developed democracies. Yet the power
to recall entails a citizen led rather than a party centric process. Within these global trends,
it is observed that Zimbabwe, a semi-democratic state, first enacted recall laws in the late
1980s as a ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party
strategy to ensure hegemonic control over their rivalries. However, some dominant
opposition elites or reformists during the 2013 constitution making process, argued for its
retention not necessarily as a tool to empower citizens but to largely contain excesses of a
competitive authoritarian state by precluding the real possibilities of solicited and
opportunistic defections by elected officials for personal prebends and to promote the
stability and control of their political parties.

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Report on the 27 April 2024 National Assembly By-Elections

Zimbabwe conducted two (2) by-elections on 27 April 2024 to fill vacant constituent seats of Mount Pleasant and Harare East. This was in accordance with Statutory Instrument 37A of 2024, Proclamation 1 of 2024. Constituency vacancies occurred following the resignation of Fadzayi Mahere and Allan Markham Rusty who were elected on the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party ticket, during the August 2023 Harmonised Elections. On 20 February 2024, the Speaker of Parliament announced the vacancies. Following the declaration of vacancies, the President of Zimbabwe officially scheduled 26 March for receiving nomination papers from the prospective candidates and 27 April as the election date. Accordingly, March 26 Nomination Court convened in Harare at the Rotten Row Magistrates Court to receive candidates’ nomination papers and a by-election was subsequently held on 27 April.

Harare East and Mount Pleasant are urban constituencies found in Harare Metropolitan Province. Harare East Constituency consists of high, medium and low-density suburbs of Harare. Areas like Tafara, Gletwyn, Borrowdale, and Glen Lorne among others were combined during the 2022/2023 Delimitation Exercise to meet the Constituency threshold. As far as possible communities with the same interest were contained in same wards in line with Section 161 (6) (d) of the Constitution, the delimitation exercise mixed communities with different interests to meet the constitutional voter population threshold for the Harare East, resulting in a mix of communities with different interests in this Constituency.

Mount Pleasant is also primarily a residential constituency, that shares borders with Hatcliffe, Harare East, Harare Central and Harare West Constituencies. The Constituency was created in 2oo8 following the 2007/2008 delimitation exercise and was reconfigured again in the 2022/2023 delimitation exercise.

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