Reports indicate that the SADC mission observing the recent Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) elections has applauded the “sterling job” done by the DRC’s national election commission and has joined the African Union (AU) in urging candidates to accept the outcome of the poll they deem to have been “successful”. This SADC mission is led by the South African Minister of Correctional Services Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

This response is bizarre, given the concerns expressed by the international community and four DRC presidential candidates about electoral irregularities.

I will today be writing to Minister Mapisa-Nqakula to request a copy of the full report of the SADC mission. In addition, I will ask her to explain why her mission has chosen to overlook the serious problems with the DRC’s poll, and in so doing, failed to abide by its own standards.

The “SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections” provides a benchmark for democratic elections in Africa. According to a report released yesterday by the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA) the DRC elections are non-compliant in terms of six of the ten SADC guidelines, including:

• Freedom of association,
• Political tolerance,
• Full participation of citizens in the political process,
• Equal opportunity for all political parties to access the state media,
• Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for, and
• Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions.

This non-compliance was already evident in the run-up to the election, when the IDASA report was compiled. The DRC election has now faltered on another count, namely commitment by all participating parties and candidates that they will accept and respect the election results.

Of particular concern is an amendment made to the DRC’s constitution in January 2011. This amendment means that where previously run-off elections would have been conducted until a single candidate achieved more that 50% of the vote, a candidate can now be declared the winner after a single round of voting. This could taint the legitimacy of the presidency and increase the likelihood of post-election violence similar to that experienced in the Ivory Coast earlier this year.

Our government must explain why we support SADC missions that are seemingly unable to uphold the principles we set for ourselves as region.