As next year’s much-anticipated national elections draw closer and election fever starts to build, electoral matters will soon be taking centre stage.
Naledi Modise, a political science lecturer from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus, believes the current format of the Electoral Amendment Bill, as well as the legal challenges it faces and how they unfold, will determine the political future of South Africa.
Naledi was reacting to the Bill President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law in April. According to the government website, “the Bill provides for the amendment of the Electoral Act, 1992 (Act 73 of 1998) and gives effect to the Constitutional Court judgment handed down on the 11 June 2020”.
The judgment had declared the Electoral Act of 1998 unconstitutional for stipulating that election to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures may only be achieved through membership of a political party.
By signing this Bill into law, the president effectively gave independent candidates and contenders the right to be included and nominated to elections in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
What this new bill highlights, is the error that was made when the ANC adopted the minority report of the Electoral Task Team (ETT) in 2002. The ETT was appointed by the Department of Home Affairs in 2002 to investigate alternative electoral systems for the country. This investigation led to a minority and majority report.
The majority report recommended a moderate change in the electoral system, while the minority report argued for the retention of the current electoral system, which maintained the closed proportional representation list electoral system as it is.
While accountability had been a key consideration for stakeholders, the report suggested that to strengthen accountability, parliament should strengthen constituency offices rather than alter the electoral model.
As a result, the biggest challenge to our democracy remains the lack of accountability for elected representatives because they account to the political party that deploys them and not a specific constituency.
“It is also worth noting that the current electoral system served its purpose well as a transitional power-sharing, power-brokering arrangement. However, as our democracy matures, this bill – which creates the space for the addition of independent political contenders – will surely enhance accountability and create stronger ties between the electorate and their representatives.
“It will also add vibrancy to our current political system and likely stimulate voter turnout – which has been on a downward trajectory over the last three election cycles,” adds Naledi.
Naledi Modise.
