THE BOSS IN CHARGE OF YOUR CROSS

As chief electoral officer of the IEC, Sy Mamabolo has his hands full these days! 

- ROSS MICHAELS

IT’s 2 o’clock on a Friday afternoon and he’s looking forward to knocking off a bit earlier than usual – although “knocking off early” hardly means he’s skiving off.

For Sy Mamabolo, early means around 6pm and considering he’s been up since 4am, it’s a 14-hour day few would have the stamina for.

But when you’re the chief electoral officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and a general election is coming your way with the speed of a runaway train, you have to put the hours in.

It is indeed a huge task, he admits. 

As head of the IEC – the permanent body created by the constitution to manage free and fair elections at all government levels – it’s his job to make sure things go smoothly.

Nearly 28 million people have registered to vote in the 29 May elections, the highest number since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, and Sy’s days are a whirlwind of logistical arrangements, meetings, lawsuits and juggling balls in the air.

Little wonder he’s worked practically 24/7 for the past few months. “Most weekdays I work until around 10pm,” he says. “I’ll go home for dinner and return to my desk. There’s no longer such a thing as a five-day work week. Because something somewhere will suffer if I slack off.”

A photo on the wall of his office at the IEC’s headquarters in Centurion catches our eye: it’s of a bright-eyed 24-year-old

Sy who “never imagined I’d ever work for the Electoral Commission”.

“I didn’t think it was within the bounds of possibility. But here I am. I’ve been here for 25 years – I’ve actually grown up in the IEC.”