Cape Town - The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Thursday expressed its concern that the home affairs portfolio committee deferred the discussion on the submissions made on the Electoral Amendment Bill to Tuesday.
The committee was meant to discuss submissions on Friday, but allowed parties to consult their caucuses on the bill that will provide for independent candidates to contest elections in Parliament and provincial legislatures.
IEC chairperson, Mosotho Moepya, said they wanted to obtain clarity as to what the impact would be on the proceedings to be finalised next Tuesday.
“It is absolutely critical, as the minister indicated, and we do think it is important for all of us to avoid another delay and later in the delay go back to a situation where we have to contemplate should courts be approached and so on.
“We are anxious that finality is had,” Moepya said.
Committee chairperson, Mosa Chabane, said they agreed there was no time but their decision was informed by members needing to consult and pay attention to issues raised during the presentations.
“We must proceed to deliberate on the Electoral Amendment Bill by Tuesday and, perhaps, conclude on Tuesday.
“If there is any other area that we will need to deal with, we will interact with legal services,” Chabane said.
Parliament has been granted another extension until the end of the month to finalise the bill after it missed the initial June 2022 Constitutional Court deadline and the December 2022 extension.
The bill was returned to the National Assembly in December after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) came up with material amendments that required public consultation.
The bill was returned to the National Assembly in December after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) came up with material amendments that required public consultation.
The bill, which attracted 81 submissions in the last instalment of written submissions, requires both parties and independent candidates to produce signatures supporting their candidature totalling 20% of the quota for a seat in the previous comparable election.
Represented independent candidates and registered parties will be exempt from this requirement.
The bill also proposes the establishment of an electoral reform consultation panel that must look into the country’s electoral system after the 2024 elections.
Reacting to the submission, Home Affairs Department’s Advocate Mitchell de Beer said it was constitutionally permissible for Parliament to adopt eligibility for candidates or parties wishing contest elections.
“There has to be some kind of a limiting factor as to who can contest elections. If every South African citizen could put up their hand, that could not work,” he said.
However, De Beer noted the threshold was initially put at 50% and then lowered up to 20%, which would require up to 15 000 signatures.
De Beer said it was up to Parliament to make a decision to lower the threshold to 15%, requiring 8 000 signatures, as some felt the current threshold was higher.
Parliamentary legal advisor Telana Halley-Starkey said the threshold for signatures should be reasonable.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi expressed his fears should the threshold be lowered and then public participation process conducted again.
“I would urge the committee to steer away from that simply because we have got no time. I don’t see us going to the Constitutional Court for the second time nor is it desirable,” Motsoaledi said.
Cape Times