More than 50 civil society groups gathered on the steps of Parliament on Friday to hand over a formal submission to the Speaker of the National Assembly, rejecting the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before Parliament.
- More than 50 civil society organisations rejected the Electoral Amendment Bill.
- It comes less than 90 days to the Constitutional Court deadline for Parliament to change the electoral law.
- Several groups marched to Parliament to hand over a formal submission to the Speaker of the National Assembly.
More than 50 civil society groups gathered on the steps of Parliament on Friday to hand over a formal submission to the Speaker of the National Assembly, rejecting the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before Parliament.
The bill will change the Electoral Act of 1998 in order to make provision for the election of independent candidates to Parliament and provincial legislatures.
The Constitutional Court granted Parliament an extension until 10 December to effect the necessary amendments.
Some of the civil groups who took to the streets on Friday include Defend Our Democracy, One South Africa, Democracy Works, the Independent Candidate Association, Rivonia Circle, the FW de Klerk Foundation, Africa School of Governance, Raising Righteous Rulers, Citizens Parliament and the Helen Suzman Foundation.
In a joint statement, the organisations said:
Our current electoral system is that Members of Parliament (MPs) are not chosen directly by the people. We want a system which allows the electorate to directly elect representatives and to be able to directly hold them accountable for decisions they make and the oversight they conduct.
The groups added that those representatives in Parliament and provincial legislatures should be directly answerable to the people in their communities and constituencies.
“We advocate for an electoral system in the interest of the public, through electoral reform that is credible, fair and inclusive, and that promotes greater public accountability and responsiveness from elected representatives,” it said.
A Constitutional Court judgment in 2020 “declared the Electoral Act 73 of 1998 unconstitutional, to the extent that it requires that adult citizens may be elected to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures only through their membership of political parties”.
The Ministerial Advisory Committee, which was formed following the judgment, favoured a report that sought to overhaul the system and make it more equitable and fairer to all South African citizens.
Parliament, however, is currently endorsing the minority report, which proposes cosmetic changes to the electoral system.
The civil groups want Parliament’s Committee on Home Affairs to adopt the “majority view” as a minimum basis for changing the electoral system.
“This will make it more equitable for independent candidates – ordinary people through their communities – to stand for public office and contest elections in an equal competition with individuals from political parties off their party lists. It also allows for greater public accountability, while maintaining proportionality.
“We request Parliament to review its dogged insistence on using the minority report as a basis for the Electoral Amendment Bill.”
