Parliament, Saturday, 29 August 2026 – A joint meeting of three parliamentary oversight committees on Friday agreed to develop a formal roadmap for the electoral reform process. Members will now return to their political parties to consult and obtain mandates on the major policy choices arising from the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (ERCP) report.
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Select Committee on Security and Justice received legal and technical advice on how Parliament should process the report. The Panel’s final report, which contains options ranging from more limited reforms to substantial changes involving constituency-based representation, was tabled in Parliament in February this year.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Mr Mosa Chabane, said the purpose of the meeting was not to choose an electoral system or to decide on whether broader reform should take place in 2029 or beyond. “This meeting was not meant to take the critical decisions, but to identify the areas where decisions must be taken”, he said.
In its presentation, Parliament Legal Services referred to the Constitutional Court’s judgment in the New Nation Movement case. The court ruled that the Electoral Act is unconstitutional because it forces eligible citizens to join political parties to get elected. The court suspended the order of unconstitutionality to give Parliament time to rectify the legal framework and allow independent candidates to stand in national and provincial elections. The committees were advised that this order was not for a wholesale redesign of the electoral system and that the legislation establishing the ERCP does not expressly require broader reform to be implemented for the 2029 elections.
The technical presentation nevertheless demonstrated that the timing of the reform matters significantly. Parliament was shown that more extensive constituency-based reforms could require substantial demarcation work with new boundaries, changes to IT systems, testing, training and voter education. With approximately 33 months to the 2029 election period, a major redesign could create pressure on legislative and implementation timelines.
The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice, Ms Jane Mananiso, said the presentations had reinforced the importance of not rushing this process. “We need to ensure that the process we embark on brings everybody along in terms of public participation and involvement,” she said. She said the aim must be to produce legislation that meets constitutional requirements and can withstand legal challenge.
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize, noted that there is a significant amount of detailed technical work that must be done. “But before that can happen, the committees must first settle the overarching political and policy choices. Those choices will determine the technical work that the IEC, the legal advisers and the other experts will have to undertake,” he said. Dr Mkhize said the fact that there is no express 2029 deadline does not detract from the urgency of the matter and that Parliament should avoid imposing an artificial timeframe that may prove impractical. Dr Mkhize said, adding that political parties now need to consider the options and return with mandates that can guide the next stage.
Mr Chabane said the management committee of the three chairpersons, together with Parliament’s technical team, will formulate the draft roadmap which should identify the sequence of engagements, including when the committees will engage the Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) and how consultation with the various stakeholders will happen.
He said the next engagement should therefore include detailed input from both institutions on the practical implications of the different reform options. According to Mr Chabane, this would help the committees and members of the public to understand the consequences of the choices before Parliament. Mr Chabane stressed that public participation must form an integral part of the process so that the views of citizens can inform the policy choices ultimately made by elected representatives.
The political-party consultations, further technical input from the IEC and MDB and stakeholder engagement will ultimately enable the committees to settle the broad policy direction and determine whether any resulting legislation should proceed as a Committee Bill or an Executive Bill.
“We need to navigate this space carefully within the framework of the Constitution,” Mr Chabane said. “We should not take shortcuts simply in order to table a Bill by a particular date.”
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, DR ZWELI MKHIZE, THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MR MOSA CHABANE AND THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SECURITY AND JUSTICE, MS JANE MANANISO.
For media interviews with the Chairperson, contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Alicestine October
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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