1–2 July 2026 | The Maslow Hotel,Santon,South Africa
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, in collaboration with the Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) of SADC Countries, supported by International IDEA convened a Peer-to-Peer Workshop on Digital Communications and election Intergrity on 1–2 July 2026 in Johannesburg.
The workshop brought together representatives from Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) across the SADC ( with the participation of EMBs from Angola, DRC, Eswatini, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Tanzania,”Zanzibar, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa)region to deliberate on emerging issues relating to digital communications and its impact on electoral processes. It also provided a platform for participants to share experiences, lessons learnt, and best practices in managing social media-and related challenges during elections. Given the need for Peer exchanges with EMBs outside the SADC region, the IEBC Kenya nominated a representative to share a case study of IEBC Kenya and its digital communication strategies.
The workshop also benefited from presentations by social media platforms including Google, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft.
Key take aways from the workshop highlighted the following:
1. EMBs should develop comprehensive communication strategies.
2. EMBs in the SADC region should strengthen regional cooperation and information sharing on emerging digital threats.
3. Partnerships with social media companies should be enhanced to facilitate timely responses to harmful online content.
4. Continuous capacity-building abd training of EMB officials is critical
5. Public awareness and voter education campaigns should be intensified to combat misinformation and disinformation.
6. EMBs should establish or strengthen mechanisms for monitoring social media trends during elections.
The convening of this workshop was informed by the Executive Committee meeting resolution of 9th April 2026, which
identified the need to strengthen the capacity of EMBs in addressing social media-related risks and opportunities.
