Parliament, Sunday, 13 March 2022 – A delegation of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has concluded the Northern Cape leg of public hearings into the Electoral Amendment Bill in Kimberley, with residents supporting the Bill albeit with calls for stricter measures to ensure that genuine independent candidates are enabled to contest.
The call for stricter processes for independent candidates is aimed at ensuring that the electoral process is not cumbersome and intended to strengthen our democracy while ensuring that public representatives are accountable to the people.
Also, some residents suggested that the threshold for independent candidates to participate at the provincial and national levels should be set at 20 000 verified signatures which will ensure that only serious and determined candidates are allowed to stand.
There was also a feeling that independent candidates should be treated similar to political parties in relation to the payment of electoral registration deposits to ensure fairness. Residents also reiterated similar calls made at other public hearings that a vacant seat of an independent should remain vacant to avoid a state of perpetual national by-elections which will have serious cost implications for the state.
Participants also called for enhanced voter education, especially in the implementation of the Bill and how it will impact the electoral process.
There was support for the Proportional Representation model as, according to participants, it allowed for greater representation of women, youth, and other marginalised groups who could ordinarily be excluded under a constituency-based system.
Despite the general support, there were those against the Bill primarily because of the belief that it is unconstitutional and does not allow for the true direct elections of independent candidates to Parliament.
The coastal delegation will continue to the Free State where it will hold the first hearings on Monday. The committee remains committed to ensuring extensive and meaningful public hearings and urges South Africans and organisations to come and share their views with the committee thereby enriching the end product.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE LEADER OF DELEGATION OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MS TIDIMALO LEGWASE
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour