Honourable President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma
Political Party Leaders and Members of the National Political Party Liaison Committee;
Deputy-Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and Fellow Commissioners;
Representatives of Observer Missions, both Domestic and International;
Chief Electoral Officer, Deputy-Chief Electoral Officers, Management and Staff;
Members of the media;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen;
It is a distinct privilege to welcome you to the launch of what is a significant milestone in the 2014 National and Provincial Elections electoral cycle.
The Electoral Commission’s Results Operation Centres (ROCs) present an opportunity for us to demonstrate the pursuit of transparency in the management of elections. Granted, it captures the final stages of the delivery of elections. However, those final stages mark the culmination of the efforts of contestants to garner votes and of the all of us in the Electoral Commission to deliver elections that are well run and offer each person who is so entitled to cast their vote and to do so in secret.
There are ten Results Operation Centres across the country. Today marks the launch of this national one. From the time of the launch, each Results Operation Centre becomes the central focus for the unfolding electoral processes. On Election Day, operations are managed from these centres in full view of the country and the international community. The results stream in at the conclusion of voting. All the activity, including Electoral Commission staff, political parties and the media all set up their operations in the centre until the official results are declared.
Thus the purpose of launching the Centre is to symbolically mark the shift of operations of the offices of the Electoral Commission to the Centre. The launch also serves to welcome all of you role players, and other stakeholders who will use the ROC as their base of operations until the Elections have been concluded.
I hope you will give yourself time to familiarise yourself with the facilities.
We have an exhibition in front of the Centre which encapsulates the various elements that lie behind elections – the innovations in electoral democracy – including new technology, security and other features introduced for the 2014 elections. In this particular instance the exhibition will showcase 20 years of Electoral Democracy.
Since the first elections managed by the Electoral Commission in 1999, the Results and Operations Centre has been set up each election as a vibrant meeting point for political parties, the media, observer missions from other parts of the world and many other stakeholders in the period immediately before and after the election. Today’s launch therefore reminds us of the invaluable experience we have gathered on how to make the Centre best serve the interests of our stakeholders and ultimately the general voting public.
On Election Day, we will witness results come in from 22 263 voting stations. We are ready to deliver excellent service to the more than 25 million voters. We have planned steadily and consistently with the 29 parties contesting for seats in the National Assembly. We have done the same in provinces with all parties contesting for seats in the provincial legislatures.
As an Operations or Nerve Centre, the facility enables us not only to monitor and coordinate operations nationally but also to field and process queries as they arise. The technology behind the Centre also allows us to provide designated workstations for political representatives and members of the media so that they can monitor results in real time from their allocated booths. Indeed hundreds of electoral reports will be filed to numerous media outlets and platforms from this Centre.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, the Chief Electoral Officer will briefly give you a sense of the magnitude of the technological undertaking that brings a Centre of this nature to life.
Having said the above, it is important to stress the immense role that is played by people in this whole undertaking. It would not have been possible to reach this milestone without the months of consistent long days invested by the staff of the Electoral Commission. The other critical category of people who have walked the path with us are the political parties through the National, Provincial and local Party Liaison Committees. Parties will further support the process through their agents located at each voting station on Election Day. Thirdly, the general public, whose response to the I Vote SA campaign has left us confident of a significant turnout for the 2014 NPE.
The critical role played by people in the electoral process cannot be over emphasised. After all, the results that will be beamed on these giant screens ultimately represent that individual vote cast in the hills and valleys of Camdeboo in the Cacadu region (Eastern Cape); Drakenstein in the Cape Winelands (Western Cape); Dikgatlong in the Frances Baard region (Northern Cape); Fetakgomo in the Sekhukhune region or any one of our 22 263 voting stations. Votes cast by South Africans living abroad will ultimately also make their way to these screens.
Finally, the National Operations and Results Centre, together with the Provincial Results Centres, have become an enduring symbol of our commitment to deliver a free and fair election conforming to internationally accepted criteria; which include universal and unhindered access to the electoral process, impartial administration of the electoral process and transparency.
As I officially launch the 2014 National and Provincial Election Results and Operations Centre, I invite you all as our stakeholders to take advantage of this facility. It is about facilitating your full participation in these concluding stages of the electoral process and the translation of results into seats. It is also about ensuring that we are accessible and able to respond to electoral administrative issues as they arise.
Distinguished guests, American Philosopher Poet Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that “It is the privilege of wisdom to listen”. We therefore stand ready as the Electoral Commission here and in the provinces; to listen to the millions of South Africans as they say IXSA from wherever they are located in the next two weeks or so; and of course yourselves as you engage us on the process on their behalf.
I thank you.
