Sometime in 2009 South Africa will be going to the polls. It will the third general election for national assembly and provincial governments since the election of 1994. Hailed by some as the "Election of the Century", the 1994 elections in South Africa stands as a ground-breaking liberation that changed the political landscape of the country, allowing all races to vote together for the first time in the countries history. Strange how the landscape has changed?
Reports of recent xenophobic attacks across the nation has shocked many of us and has been a reality check for the pace of transformation in this country. Taking place in mainly poorer communities, the xenophobic attacks seem to echo with images from the late 1980s when social unrest reached its peaks in South Africa in the fight against apartheid. Except this time, South Africans are not fighting each other, they are turning on their African brothers and sisters, as well as any foreign shop-keepers and entrepreneurs that service these poorer communities.
This discontent seemed also to echo further with other sources of emerging protests. An emerging struggle against poor service delivery and the widening income gap is spurring greater tensions amongst communities. John Pilger has called this the fight against "economic apartheid". Violent protest action also came a surprise during the last local government elections in 2006, with areas like Khutsong requiring emergency action by the South African IEC to ensure election take place as required.
The recent xenophobia, already high levels of crime, coupled with brewing tensions from the last elections around service delivery, and the leadership tussle within the dominant party creates a difficult context within which the 2009 elections will take place. Social discontent coupled with potential political manipulation saw the elections process in Kenya disrupt into an orgy of violence. Zimbabweans are currently living under a cloud of violence following the loss of ZANU PF in the March elections.
Elections have the ability to focus the spotlight on a country's pain, as well as offer a moment of social enlightenment. Elections in South Africa offered the latter in 1994. What will the 2009 elections offer? The Electoral Commission of Kenya and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission point towards the important roles such institutions played in the lifespan of a country. Will the South African IEC be up to the task for the 2009 elections? With a significant staff recruitment process currently underway, key vacancies still existing, implementation of new operational technology being rolled out in the permanent offices, as well as new technologies being developed for use during registration, the institution appears to be focussed more inward than outward. Without a balanced view, both inward and outward looking, the institution and the elections could fall foul of the increasingly fluid social tensions that are emerging. The Electoral Commission of Kenya stands as an example of failure to adequately address the external context which showed sufficiently early signs of tension.
