Parliament, Thursday, 11 August 2022 –The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has acceded yesterday to counsel to drop the requirement of a cooling-off period for a former political party member to participate as an independent candidate. The committee is of the view that the enforcement of this provision was going to be difficult to achieve and thus it would be futile to have it in the Electoral Amendment Bill.
It considered some of the residual matters that remained to be finalised as part of the consideration of the Bill. Following the meeting of 22 July where it resolved to allow members to further consult on a limited number of residual issues, it has finalised those residual matters which will allow for the completion of the drafting of the A list of the Bill.
The committee has re-emphasised the requirement for representation of independent candidates by agents within a voting station to ensure fairness. It has also resolved that the quota of these agents will be left to the Electoral Commission of South Africa to deal with in the regulations.
The committee remains of the view that these decisions create the required and necessary balance to ensure a fair and reasonable legislation for both independent and political parties. Furthermore, these decisions will in effect enable the legal teams to complete the drafting process of the A list Bill which will then be considered by the committee.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MR MOSA CHABANE.
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