When Brainstorm arrives at the Independent Electorate Commission’s offices in Centurion, all the staff has just been issued their accreditation tags for the municipal election on August 3. “It looks like I’m on police file,” says Tumelo Mohlala, a receptionist at the front desk.

CIO Libisi Maphanga also has his accreditation. He’s been in the position for the past 16 years, and has run seven elections, four of them municipal. He settles into his chair, slowly sipping his coffee as the Gautrain slides into view from the office park window. It’s late on a Friday afternoon; this is the only time he’s been able to make for an interview, and in the outer office, there’s a steadily growing queue of other people waiting to see him.