Parliament has paid tribute to four retiring Independent Electoral Commission members.
A farewell lunch was held in the Old Assembly dining hall in honour of IEC chair Brigalia Bam, deputy chair Thoko Mpumlwana and commissioners Fanie van der Merwe and Terry Tselane.
Home affairs portfolio committee chairwoman Maggie Maunye expressed the committee's gratitude to the retiring members of the IEC.
The IEC had come a long way from the negotiations of the Conference for a Democratic SA (Codesa) and the multiparty negotiation forum which culminated in the constitution and establishment of the IEC as a Chapter 9 body.
Bam and Van der Merwe had been there from the outset in 1994, when the electoral team had only seven months to prepare for the first democratic elections.
"These elections became a beacon of hope, signifying the miraculous transition for which South Africa has come to be known," Maunye said.
Parliament's special ad hoc committee on the nomination of replacement commissioners has recommended a second seven-year term for Tselane.
The other three recommended by the committee are Pansy Tlakula, Bongani Finca, and Raenette Taljaard.
The nominations still need to be approved by the Assembly before President Jacob Zuma can make the formal appointments.
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