The Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission (ECCOC) – a body
made up of religious and civil society leaders – will once again play a
key role in making sure that Wednesday's local government elections in South Africa are
free and fair.
ECCOC works in conjunction with
the Independent Electoral Commission and it aims to help create and
maintain conditions in which elections run smoothly.
One
of its tasks is to ensure that political parties and their leaders
understand that they should not incite violence and instability at a
time when tensions could be running high.
“Political
leaders should not be irresponsible and part of ECCOC’s role is to
ensure that they behave in a responsible manner on election day. We want
to be the first port of call if anyone feels uncomfortable about
anything related to the elections,” said ECCOC’s chairperson, Anglican
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.
ECCOC’s 15 members are drawn from various faith communities, with a few from civil society.
ECCOC
operates mainly in the Cape metropolitan area and, on election day,
sends observers to voting stations around the broader Cape Peninsula.
They monitor whether presiding officers are doing their jobs properly
and whether elections are conducted in an efficient manner.
ECCOC
as an organisation attempts to be impartial as far as party politics is
concerned and its members are present at polling stations as objective
observers.
“We help to defuse tense situations
if there are any. We hope that political parties and the electorate see
our presence as helping to ensure that there is a moral presence on
election day,” said Archbishop Mokgoba.
