The Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC countries together with Electoral Commissions of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa are pleased to confirm their participation at the Election Academy: A Review of the 2024 Southern Africa Elections, held on April 24-25, 2025, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This activity was organized by the Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA) in collaboration with AHEAD Africa project and electoral programming Organisations at regional and continental level.
The two-day event brought together EMBs, civil society organisations, regional bodies, and development partners to reflect on the recent elections and develop strategies for future electoral processes. The year 2024 was significant for elections worldwide, with over 70 countries voting. In Southern Africa, elections were held in South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Mauritius and Botswana. The objectives of the Election academy were as follows.
- To collectively reflect on the outcomes of the 2024 elections in Southern Africa, highlighting successes, evolving challenges, and areas for improvement.
- To develop an advocacy strategy for Southern Africa, focused on ensuring the effective implementation of recommendations from election reports.
- To foster greater collaboration, dialogue, and action among civil society organisations, EMBs, regional bodies, and development partners.
The ECF-SADC Secretariat and Member Commissions participated as follows.
| SESSION TWO Session Moderator: Titi Pitso – Election Expert Speaker
| Review of 2024 Elections in Southern Africa: Perspectives from Election Management Bodies
| Presenters |
| The Session provided EMBs with the opportunity to showcase the strategies they utilised in managing the electoral processes they administered in 2024 and the challenges they encountered. By sharing valuable lessons learned, this Session provided a building block for EMBs and stakeholders to work together in strengthening electoral democracy across the region.
| Mr Petrus Shaama – Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer of the Electoral Commission of Namibia | |
| Ms. Mavis Ngatangua Mukungu, Chief Information Education Officer – Independent Electoral Commission of Botswana
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| Chief Elections Officer – Sy Mamabolo – Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa | ||
| SESSION THREE: Session Moderator: Andrew Songa – EPD Regional Advisor- African Union Engagement- AHEAD Africa Project
| Reflections on 2024 Elections: Insights into Election Observer Findings—Assessment on the Adequacy of Administrative, Political and Legal Frameworks.
The session focussed on presenting election observation reports, highlighting key insights gathered from recent electoral processes. It provided insights into key EOM findings regarding the credibility of the administrative, legal, and political frameworks that underpin election conduct
| Speaker 1: Ms Lenny Taabu – Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) Speaker 2: Mr Samuel M Atuobi, Senior Elections Officer, African Union Speaker 3: Ms Hilda Modisane – Executive Secretary – Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) 4: Messrs Magabolle Isaac Mafiri, Elections & Good Governance, Organ on Politics Defence and Security Affairs and Terry Rose, Senior Officer, Politics and Diplomacy-Southern African Development Community (SADC)
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