Civil society organisations hand submission to Parliament rejecting new Electoral Bill

A large cohort of civil society organisations gathered at Parliament this morning [Friday September 16] to hand over a formal submission to the Speaker of the National Assembly, outlining their collective stance in rejecting the new Electoral Bill that is currently before Parliament.

“This comes with less than 90 days to go until the deadline set by the Constitutional Court for Parliament to change the country’s electoral laws to be in line with the Constitution,” say the organisations in a press release.

The press release continues: “Following the New Nation Movement judgment of June 2020, Parliament was ordered to change our unconstitutional electoral laws to allow for South Africans – who are not members of any political party – to run for public office and serve their country.

“Many civil society organisations stood together today and submitted the following concerns and proposals on behalf of the people of South Africa:

“• 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 the accountable for decisions they make and the oversight they conduct. Those who represent us in Parliament and provincial legislatures should be directly answerable to the people in their communities and constituencies, and they should not only report to their political parties and elevate the interests of those parties over the interests of the people. They must primarily represent and account to those that elected them.

“• 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. • The Bill ignores the findings of a litany of statutory commissions over the past two decades including the 2003 Frederik van Zyl Slabbert rapport, the 2006 Parliament Report of MP Pregs Govender, the 2017 Kgalema Motlanthe High Level Commission and this year’s Zondo Commission Report.

“• The majority view of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Electoral Reform chaired by Valli Moosa should be considered as a minimum basis for changing the electoral system. It should not be ignored in favour of a minority view that is vulnerable to legal challenge.

“• The current Bill as it stands, and the system that it proposes, has not been tested anywhere in the world before. The Bill is complex and does not result, in general, in proportional representation. It goes against the underpinning of the democratic and constitutionally prescribed principle of equality where every person’s vote is of equal value.

“• The current Bill privileges political parties and further disadvantages independent candidates by making them compete on an unequal footing with political parties. This is manifestly unfair.

“• We urge the Committee to consider a mixed constituency and proportional representation (PR) list system at a national and provincial level that includes the right of independent candidates to contest elections on an equal footing with candidates from political parties.

“• Given the short timeframes before the 2024 national government elections, there is an urgent need to find consensus on a way forward. In finalising the Electoral Amendment Bill, political role-players and Parliament must appreciate that the broader public will not accept cosmetic changes to the system that advances the interests of political parties over those of the electorate.

“We therefore implore Parliament’s Committee on Home Affairs to adopt the ‘majority view’ of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on electoral reform 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.

“As civil society organisations, we will continue educating, informing and mobilising the public around the importance of credible and meaningful electoral reform. We will also continue advocating against an electoral system that benefits political role-players over the interests of the electorate.

“Electoral reform gives our nation an opportunity to change what was to be an interim system that Parliament was obliged to review, but which they failed to do until it was forced to by the Constitutional Court. Civil society is of the collective view that our current electoral system no longer meets the needs of ordinary people in that they are insisting on being more directly involved in the democracy processes.

“Fundamentally, the civil society organisations are concerned with ensuring a constitutionally compliant electoral process that upholds the sanctity of the ballot box and honours the dignity, worth and equality of each individual voter. To this end we will collectively work, looking to galvanise all South Africans towards electoral change that will leave a legacy for generations to come.”

Issued by: OSA, OUTA, CASAC, Democracy Works, the Independent Candidate Association, Rivonia Circle, the FW De Klerk Foundation, Defend Our Democracy, Africa School of Governance, Raising Righteous Rulers, Citizens Parliament, the Helen Suzman Foundation, Devoted Citizen, My Vote Counts, New Horizon Movement, Mopani Independent Movement, The Independents, Lebowakgomo Civic Organisation, Moretele Independent Civic Organisation, Bana Ba Thari, Cederberg Eerste, Knysna Independent Movement, Ngwathe Residents Association, Mandela Bay Community Movement, One Movement for Cape Town, and Transforming Drakenstein Community Forum

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