The National Assembly (NA) passed the Electoral Amendment Bill on Thursday during its hybrid plenary session.
In June 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled in the New Nation Movement NPC and Others vs. President of the Republic of South Africa and Others case that the Electoral Act of 1998 was unconstitutional insofar as it stipulates that adult citizens may only be elected to the National Assembly and Provincial Legislative Bodies through their membership in political parties. This ruling prompted the introduction of the Bill.
The primary purpose of the bill is, among other things, to introduce terminology deemed significant to the Act’s enlargement to include independent candidates as contestants in elections for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
It attempts to provide for the nomination of independent candidates to fight elections for the National Assembly or provincial legislatures, as well as the rules and qualifications independent candidates must meet in order to be registered.
The Home Affairs Minister proposed the Electoral Amendment Bill to the House of Representatives on January 10 and published it for public comment on January 21, 2022, with a deadline of February 21, 2022.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo stated that the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, which was tasked with processing the Bill, received 107 written submissions and 13 oral submissions from individuals and organizations, including One South Africa Movement, Africa School of Governance, Zolani Zonyani, Citizens Parliament, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and Abatsha Force for Change.
The 70s Group, the New Nation Movement, the Indigenous First Nation of South Africa, and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution all submitted proposals.
Mothapo stated that the committee also held provincial public hearings in all nine provinces between 7 and 23 March 2022, when 3,483 individuals attended and 610 submitted oral submissions, with 389 supporting the Bill and 222 opposing its existing format.
He stated, however, that due to the complexity of the Bill, including the vast and difficult public engagement process, the committee did not anticipate meeting the 10 June 2022 date set by the Constitutional Court.
In this context, Parliament contacted the Constitutional Court ahead to the deadline to obtain a six-month extension in order to complete the Bill.
Mothapo said that the Constitutional Court granted an extension until 10 December 2022 for the completion of the Bill’s processing.
In the course of the Bill’s further processing, the committee invited the Department of Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission, and the Parliamentary Legal Service to comment on the report on public participation, and the report served as the basis for the committee’s deliberations, during which it deliberated on the Bill on multiple occasions and held meetings during the Parliament’s Constituency period in June, July, and October 2022.
“Due to the extended deliberations, the committee proposed further adjustments to other portions of the Electoral Act of 1998 that were not included in the Bill, as well as other substantial alterations to the Bill’s definitions and clauses. In accordance with National Assembly Rule 286(4)(b) and (4), the committee asked the National Assembly’s consent to expand the scope of the bill (c).
Mothapo explained, “The National Assembly granted permission on 1 September 2022, and on 2 September 2022, the committee advertised these proposed amendments and solicited public comments two weeks later on 16 September 2022, to ensure that the public has the opportunity to comment only on these proposed amendments to the Bill.”
Mothapo stated that 254 electronic submissions and three hand-delivered submissions totaling 258 were received in response to the repeated call for public input.
“Additionally, 13 substantive submissions (emails) containing over 100 pages of inputs were received, including three physically hand-delivered submissions from “Civil Society” with a total of 1,218 signatures, from “Defend our Democracy” being supported by 56 organizations, and from DearSA providing a summary of its emailed submissions.
“The committee reviewed all submissions received and debated on them in turn. All of these factors resulted in five substantial adjustments. “After reviewing the revisions to the Electoral Amendment Bill, the committee has recommended that the House approve the bill,” Mothapo stated.
The Bill will now be forwarded to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for additional review and approval.