THE IEC'S ACHIEVEMENTS REWARDED GLOBALLY

The Independent Electoral Commission won several international and local awards in consequence of the successful planning and delivery of the 1999 elections. The IEC prepared and delivered the second democratic national and provincial elections within an unprecedented period of only 13 months in fulfilment of its constitutional obligation to safeguard and promote democracy in South Africa.

Various international and local awards, including the prestigious Computerworld Smithsonian Award for the powerful use of technology, were conferred in recognition of these achievements.

Computerworld Smithsonian Award

A Computerworld Smithsonian Award, a global honour, was presented to the IEC at a gala dinner in Washington DC in June 2000. The IEC had been shortlisted as one of five finalists in the Government and Non-Profit Organisations category of the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards. The remaining four finalists were all American organisations and included three government institutions.

An independent panel of judges found the IEC achievement to be among the most important applications of information technology to society in the year of the award.

Technology played a crucial role in ensuring a peaceful outcome to South Africa's second democratic national and provincial elections in June 1999.

The development of a satellite-based Wide Area Network (WAN) to 526 locations around the country in the record time of three months allowed the IEC to establish communication channels to local authorities, which was especially important in rural areas where telecommunications infrastructure was largely lacking.

By international standards it was considered impossible to register the voting population of South Africa within a period of less than three months. The task was carried out in only nine days. During that period 18,4 million South Africans registered in 14 650 predelimited voting districts as voters on the first national common voters' roll. This figure represented more than 80 per cent of all eligible citizens.

This technological breakthrough would not have been possible without the participation of our technical partners – and of course the people.

National Productivity Institute Award

The IEC also became the first-ever recipient of a Platinum Award in this year's National Productivity Institute Awards competition, which has been held annually since 1979. The IEC won the top award. Giving reasons for the choice, the Adjudication Chairperson, Aubrey Tshalata, said the 1999 elections stood as a monument to vision, innovation, energy and determination.

"Within impossibly difficult timeframes the Electoral Commission delivered elections to the people of South Africa of which we may all be justifiably proud."

Planning for the elections was underpinned by a commitment to involve and empower local communities and individuals, and to level the playing field, facilitating participation by advantaged and disadvantaged communities in both urban and rural areas.

Of particular note was the IEC's ability to undertake proper planning through the compilation, creation and utilisation of the first comprehensive and accurate Geographic Information System (GIS) in South Africa. This system allowed the IEC to complete an automated and statistical delimitation of South Africa into 14 650 voting districts in a remarkable world-beating nine weeks.

The GIS proved an important tool in productive management reporting and the IEC is currently at the international cutting edge of Spatial Management Reporting, or the illustration of progress through colour-coded themes depicted on a map. In combining census and geographic information, the IEC has facilitated demographic and economic analysis and planning for both the public and the private sectors.

Institute of People Management Award

The IEC also received the Champions of People-Driven Growth Award of the President of the Institute of People Management (IPM) in recognition of the use of people and technology in South Africa's second democratic national and provincial elections. The IPM is the largest professional human resources organisation in South Africa, with about 9 000 professional and corporate members.

IPM President Tlisetso Tsukudu presented the award to the IEC at the IPM's 43rd Annual Convention President's Dinner.

IEC Chairperson Brigalia Bam accepted the award "on behalf of all our staff and partners in the public and private sectors, who worked tirelessly to combine their efforts with our technological solutions to make the 1999 elections a success".

Southern African Logistics Society Award

The IEC received a Special Merit Award for them logistical input required for conduct of the 1999 national and provincial elections.

BMF Award for Excellence

The Black Management Forum is an independent non-governmental initiative dedicated to the development of managerial leadership in black people and the transformation of organisations in Southern Africa and beyond.

Following the widely acknowledged successful conduct of the 1999 national and provincial elections, the BMF honoured the IEC with an "Award for Excellence".

Institute of Management Consultants Award

During October 1999, the Institute of Management Consultants awarded Andersen Consulting, the IEC’s Information Technology partner, the award for best management consulting project for the year. This prestigious award is competed for by all management consulting organisations on a annual basis. It acknowledges excellence in execution of a management consulting assignment and is judged on a number of acknowledged management consulting criteria. Dr Brigalia Bam received the award on behalf of Andersen Consulting.