South Africa’s election laws are getting a serious overhaul

The Electoral Amendment Bill that aims to change who and how people can run for political positions is expected to be given another extended deadline by the Constitutional Court.

The Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, to which the bill was initiated, said that it should make way for further public consultation amid backlash by civil organisations.

Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) said that recently added clauses to the bill by the National Congress of Provinces (NCOP) would be open for public comment first thing next year, in January 2023.

The new bill aims to insert certain definitions to expand the original Electoral Act of 1998 to include independent candidates who wish to contest elections in the National Assembly as well as provincial legislatures.

Changes to the Electoral Act followed a Constitutional Court ruling that tasked Parliament with renovating the current electoral system to allow independent candidates to run for political office.

Getting the bill to its current stage has been a difficult endeavour, with constant deliberations and public input meetings since its introduction to Parliament in June 2020.

The bill recently passed through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), resulting in key material changes taking place; this has led to the re-advertising of public comment for the document.

NCOP deliberations resulted in ensuring that independent candidates are treated similarly to political parties.

The new bill proposes the inclusion of a further paragraph to address the disparity between party candidates and independent candidates, as the bill currently only requires independent candidates to produce signatures supporting their candidature totalling 20% of the quota for a seat in the previous comparable election.

It now goes on to make it essential for both parties and candidates to produce the same amount of signatures in support of their contesting of the election.

Prior to the NCOP’s propositions, if a seat in Parliament were worth 44,000 votes, then 20% of the 44,000 voters would be required to be signatories – amounting to 8,800 signatures.

The original framework offered up by the Electoral Amendment Bill saw political parties having no required quota. Established political parties were only required to produce a founding document and 1,000 registered voters in respect of the National Assembly.

According to the portfolio committee on home affairs, the bill will now align the requirements for both independent candidates and parties.

These new amendments require public consultation prior to the bill continuing through its legislative process.

Backlash

The new amendments proposed by the NCOP stem from a vast amount of criticism within political circles and businesses.

Institutions, including the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Solidarity, Build One South Africa, and the Legal Resources Centre, pointed to the bill being unfair and unjust to independent candidates.

Collaborative civil society organisations said: “The foundations of our electoral system are based on the long traditions of the liberation struggle that call for ‘one person, one vote’ or equal value.”

“The proposed system significantly erodes the equality of our votes,” said the group.

Electoral Amendment Bill

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South Africa’s election laws are getting a serious overhaul