Building strong relationships with political parties, the media and other stakeholders are the hallmarks of success for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Western Cape. This is according to Reverend Courtney Sampson who served as provincial chairperson for the IEC for 22 years.
Sampson retired at the beginning of this month.
He cast his first vote at the age of 38. Five years later, he was appointed Chairperson of the institution tasked with overseeing elections in the country. Sampson says when he received notice that he was to start at the IEC on the 1st of April 1999 he thought it was an April fool’s joke because the elections were on the 2nd of June 1999.
But he says he saw it as duty to his country and obliged. At 65, he is proud of the institution he is leaving behind. Sampson says the IEC has established a tradition of free and fair elections over the years. He says initially the motivation to vote was based on the pride of building a democracy.
“Coming out of those dark days of apartheid, to begin to develop a country which was democratically strong and foundations were strong, and one of those pillar of that foundation was to have a free and fair election, and we had a very clear understanding of that.”
Strong relationships with political parties, a major stakeholder in their processes, made it easier to resolve what he says were smaller mistakes.
Sampson says the IEC is firmly entrenched in a culture of accountability and transparency. The electoral body holds monthly meetings with political party leadership in the provinces and nationally.
“So that they knew what was being planned, they knew where we were going, on election days, on registration days, political parties have their own party agents inside the voting station, nothing happens at a polling station without the political party representative, even when counting starts.”
Poor voting interest among the youth has been a challenge for the IEC in recent years.
“The issue of having yourself registered was in fact a badge of honour to say, I am for a new South Africa, I am for building a new nation, I am for participating in this process, so that’s more the context, so whether that context, so whether that context is still relevant is what we need talk about now, and I think my colleagues are talking about that and one of the reasons why they are also looking at seriously registering people electronically.”
An ordained reverend of the Anglican church, the 65-year-old says he will devote more time to issues of the church, Boland Cricket where he’s an independent director, and his family.
