DO NOT WORK FOR THE IEC (Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa)

<p>My sister and I signed up to work for the IEC on the 3rd of August. As we are both university students and the extra cash wouldn't hurt, we decided to sign up for the jobs. We arrived at the voting stations at 6am as requested to help set up and we didn't mind coming in a little earlier to ensure that the voting went smoothly. As a day of hands on labour progressed we were not offered as little as a bottle of water or a slice of bread but were given one 15 minute break at around 3 o clock. At 7 o clock the voting polls closed and we were ready to leave but were then told that we HAVE to stay and count the votes. Initially we thought another hour or two would not be a problem BUT we ended up leaving the voting station at 3am the next morning (21 hours laters) having not eaten, being tired and desperately seeking lifts for the people who lived in far out places as no taxis were available at that time that were in their price range (the IEC officials were not even phased that the majority of the people working had no transportation home in the early hours of the morning). We have yet still to be paid R720 (note: this is already not a lot of money AND they did not pay us at all for the 8 hours of overtime on a PUBLIC HOLIDAY) for a day of hard work and no benefits.</p>