15 September 2022

We will not be submitting comments to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on its proposed
changes to the Electoral Amendment Bill. We reiterate our position that the Bill is fatally flawed and
marred by a wholly inadequate public participation process. To submit comments on any proposed
changes is to legitimise the flawed Bill. We, therefore, reject the bill!

On 5 September 2022, the Portfolio Committee made a call for public comment only on its proposed
changes to the flawed Bill and with a deadline of 16 September 2022. The Committee was clear that
it will not consider any submissions that address the substantial flaws in the Bill or any proposals to
ensure an electoral system that could meaningfully enhance accountability and reflect the
constitution.

The Electoral Amendment Bill is fatally flawed

The three fundamental flaws have already been highlighted to the Portfolio Committee, but ignored:

1. The public participation process was inadequate:
The Committee did not give the required notice to the public for its public hearings on the Bill in
March of this year. Further, the Committee did not provide sufficient information for the public to
properly understand the purpose of the process and the complexities of the electoral system.

2. The Minister of Home Affairs ignored the majority view of the MAC:
In February 2021, the Minister of Home Affairs established a Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC)
to, through consultation, advise how the electoral system should reform to strengthen democracy
and comply with the constitutional court judgment. The Committee compiled a report in June 2021
that included two potential options — a minority and a majority view. The majority view was ignored
by the Minister, and not presented to the public and was not engaged with by Parliament.

3. The Bill contradicts the Constitutional Court’s ruling
The Bill requires individuals who wish to contest the elections to secure 30% of the quota of votes
from the previous election. This is much higher than what is required of political parties and
discriminates against independent candidates. This is in contradiction to the Con Court’s ruling to
give right to individuals to contest as independent candidates.

Further, the Bill considers provinces as constituencies. This is not workable and is clearly an attempt
to make the Minister’s minority option more palatable.

Additionally, while political parties can contest 400 seats in the National Assembly, individuals can
only contest 200 seats. Therefore, the numbers of votes required per seat for individuals contesting
the election are substantially higher than for political parties.

Therefore, we reject the Bill, and we reject the call to comment and legitimise it. We call on
members of civil society to reject the Bill with equal contempt. We also call on Members of
Parliament to push for a Bill that will meaningfully enhance accountability and reflect the
constitution.

Further, if Parliament is to adopt the flawed Bill, we realise the risk of Constitutional Court
applications and the impact this may have on free and fair elections in 2024. We call on Parliament
to allow civil society to support it in minimising this risk.
[ENDS]