IEC is a ‘victim’ of lack of trust in South Africa’s government
· Citizen
Trust in the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has plummeted to just 20% in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which is the lowest in the country.
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This is according to IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya.
With local government elections approaching, the IEC chair acknowledged the crisis and vowed to act. However, a political analyst warns that the damage is being deliberately worsened.
KZN’s trust in IEC is lowest in South Africa
The IEC has revealed that only one in five residents in KwaZulu-Natal trusts the institution, the worst figure recorded nationwide.
Moepya made the admission during a media briefing on Friday, at the conclusion of a week-long stakeholder engagement in the province.
The figure comes from the 2026 Human Sciences Research Council’s voter participation survey, which Moepya described as “an important barometer of public sentiment ahead of elections”.
The national average trust level in the IEC currently stands at a concerning 32%.
“Trust levels in the Electoral Commission have not been spared. On this metric, it is lowest in KwaZulu-Natal at 20%,” Moepya said.
He further stated that residents who had actually participated in past elections tended to view the IEC more favourably than those who had not voted.
Broader collapse in democratic confidence
The lack of trust in the IEC sits within the wider context of democratic disillusionment in the province.
Satisfaction with democracy in KZN has plummeted from 54% in 2004 to just 6% in 2025, compared to a national decline from 65% to 36% over the same period.
Moepya acknowledged this, saying KZN is “among the provinces recording the sharpest decline in confidence in democracy”.
IEC a victim of a legitimacy crisis
Professor Theo Neethling, a research fellow in the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State, argued that the low trust in the IEC reflects something more troubling than dissatisfaction with commission specifically.
“The commission is not the only institution facing distrust; it is caught up in a larger legitimacy crisis that affects nearly all political entities,” Neethling said.
“The IEC, despite its relative strength as an institution, becomes an unintended victim in the broader decline of public trust.”
He pointed to low civic awareness and occasional technical glitches during elections as factors that worsen the problem.
“In an environment characterised by low civic awareness, even slight administrative problems can be escalated into perceived systemic failures,” Neethling said.
“When you also consider a highly charged political landscape and the rapid dissemination of misinformation, it becomes clearer why trust in electoral processes diminishes – even in the absence of substantial evidence indicating widespread misconduct.”
Is stagnation the new face of democracy?
Neethling warned that the deeper crisis is not about the IEC at all, but about what democracy has come to mean for ordinary people in KZN.
According to him, for many residents, democratic governance is no longer associated with empowerment; it is associated with stagnation.
“For many people in KwaZulu-Natal, democracy is linked not to empowerment but instead to economic standstill, joblessness, increasing living expenses, crime and ongoing corruption,” he said. “Under these circumstances, democracy is evaluated not based on its ideals, but rather its results – and in that regard, it is increasingly seen as lacking.”
Who is driving the distrust, and why?
Meanwhile, political analyst Professor Andre Duvenhage from the North West University argued that the low levels of trust in KZN are not accidental.
He pointed to the MK party’s sustained campaign of questioning the IEC’s credibility as a key driver of the erosion.
Duvenhage said the MK party’s claims of electoral fraud had found no traction in court and were unsupported by independent surveys, yet had taken root among its supporters.
He drew on a stark historical parallel to describe the strategy. “The German propagandist Goebbels once said that if you present the lie over and over again, people will accept the lie as becoming truth,” Duvenhage said.
“And my take on it is that this is the line the MK party is following.”
He noted that the damage is concentrated precisely where the MK party is strongest.
A pattern that will outlast the MK party
Duvenhage cautioned that while the MK party is currently the most aggressive actor undermining IEC credibility, the behaviour of questioning electoral outcomes is becoming a broader feature of South African politics.
He warned that any party facing significant losses in the 2026 local government elections may follow the same playbook.
“If the ANC is going to lose a lot of support, let’s say in the 2026 local elections, we may see pressure coming from that side as well,” Duvenhage said.
“Also, the EFF, whose support is in decline. So there will be pressure, specifically from the radical side of politics.”
He described the MK party as fundamentally hostile to the constitutional order underpinning South Africa’s electoral system, noting that its founding documents reflect opposition to Roman-Dutch law and Western democratic norms.
This, he argued, is what makes its attacks on the IEC more than just political posturing.
Duvenhage was equally candid about the stakes if this trend continues unchecked.
While he maintained that the IEC has historically delivered credible elections, he said the country cannot afford complacency.
“If our electoral process is endangered, this will signal a serious threat to the consolidation of democracy in South Africa,” he warned.
Apathy worse than anger
Neethling’s most pointed warning was not about political attacks on the IEC, but about what happens when citizens simply stop caring.
“With decreasing satisfaction, indifference and disengagement start to emerge,” Neethling said.
That disengagement, over time, hollows out democratic governance itself. He framed this as a risk that extends well beyond election day.
IEC chair defends its integrity
Moepya pushed back against the narrative that the IEC’s systems are compromised, offering a detailed account of the transparency measures built into South Africa’s electoral process.
He pointed out that no one inside the commission, including himself, receives results before the public does.
“We all get them at the same time, from the same source,” he said. “There is no black box. There is no processing in the commission’s corner or anything. It’s all in the public.”
He challenged critics to identify any exploitable flaw in the system. “If you find a way, please let us be the first to know,” Moepya said.
He said the commission had also taken concrete steps to address concerns from the 2024 elections, including independent audits of voter management devices and improvements to the voters’ roll app.