Electoral Commission launches Results Operation Centre

15 April 2009

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa officially
launched the national Results Operation Centre (ROC), a state of the art centre
where election related activities from across the country will be
co-ordinated.

“This centre reinforces our commitment as the IEC to have a transparent and
open process of result counting and verification,” said Advocate Pansy Tlakula,
Chief Electoral Officer of the IEC.

“It is our belief that we can only have free and fair elections if our
processes are transparent. We hope that most of you will be able to visit the
centre in the coming week so that you can bear testimony that indeed, we did
everything possible to safeguard the freeness and fairness of these elections,”
said Tlakula.

The centre will also serve as a central point from which the media can
monitor incoming results and a base from which they can report, as well as a
meeting place for political parties, politicians, business and government
leaders to keep abreast of results and to interact.

IEC activities at the Results Operation Centre in Pretoria include a results
system technical help desk, a results problem resolution authority, an
electoral operations “nerve centre”, an extensive information technology
division and a geographic information system group that will prepare
interactive, map based graphics displays for large projection screens, for the
media and for dissemination via the IEC intranet to provincial operations
centres. The IEC will employ over 500 staff per shift at the results operation
centre.

Results operations centres have also been established in all nine provinces,
serving the same purpose at a provincial level as the results operations centre
does in Pretoria. During the election period, commissioners, management and
electoral staff will move office to the ten results centres countrywide.

The launch was attended by most political parties, observers and diplomats
based in South Africa and invited guests.

Located at the Tshwane events centre, previously known as the Pretoria
Showground, the centre covers 12 000m² and will be in operation until election
results have been announced.

Some of the features of the centre include 450 computer workstations, 300
telephone units, 22km of data and fibre cabling and telephone cabling; more
than 1 000 electricity power points; and more than 200 lights.
Over 44 000 carpet tiles were laid, 2km of network cabling was installed, 122
offices were built inside the Centre, five television stations and seven radio
stations will have studios and/or broadcast from the centre.

Several media representatives including radio stations, TV broadcasters and
newspapers and all 26 political parties contesting elections nationally, have
been given offices to operate from in the run-up to election and immediately
afterwards.

The offices are equipped with computers and phones. Parties will be able to
keep in touch with their agents in the field. The IEC also operates a call
centre that provides callers with information regarding registration status,
voting location and also election results.

IEC chairperson, Dr Brigalia Bam said the opening of the centre was
significant in the running of elections as it formally underscores the ability
of the IEC to deliver on its mandate of running free and fair elections and
thus nurturing electoral and constitutional democracy in South Africa.

“We view this unique centre as a hub of social cohesion or nerve centre
wherein all role players assemble at each national election so as to
collaborate in this important national project on elections,” she said.

The IEC established the first centre for the 1999 elections focusing on
management and results activities. The transparency that prevailed made the
centre an integral part of the election results management process which
political parties and the media have come to expect and use as a benchmark to
inform themselves about their accuracy and transparency.

It is against this background that results operations centres will remain an
unwritten feature of the results management system.

For media queries please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386

Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
15 April 2009