Cyril Ramaphosa signs highly-contested Electoral Amendment Bill into law

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the contentious Electoral Amendment Bill into law.

The new act provides for the amendment of the Electoral Act to allow independent candidates to contest provincial and national elections.

The Constitutional Court found in June 2020 that exclusive party proportional representation could no longer be used and ordered parliament to correct the defect in the Electoral Act within 24 months. Parliament missed that deadline and was granted two extensions by the court last year.

The amended law now provides for the inclusion and nomination of independent candidates as contesters to elections in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.

In a statement on Monday, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said notable measures in the bill include:

• Requirements which must be met by people who wish to be nominated as independent candidates,
• The inspection of copies of lists of independent candidates and accompanying documents,
• Provision for objections to independent candidates,
• The inclusion of a list of independent candidates entitled to contest elections,
• Requirements for the appointment of agents by independent candidates,
• Obligation for independent candidates to abide by the Electoral Code of Conduct,
• A revised formula for the allocation of seats and their reallocation in the event of vacated seats and,
• Stipulation for the minister of home affairs to establish the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel within four months of gazetting the amendments.

After the stipulated independent investigations and consultations, the panel will make non-binding recommendations on potential reforms of the electoral system for future elections of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures after the 2024 polls.

Magwenya quoted Ramaphosa as having said: “The Electoral Amendment Bill marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our democracy by expanding electoral participation and widening the pool of leadership choice for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The bill presents a development that can only enrich and sustain our growing constitutional democracy.”

“President Ramaphosa is satisfied that the processes leading to the passing of the bill followed all legislative procedures as envisaged by the constitution and that the substance of the bill will pass constitutional scrutiny,” said Magwenya.

Civil society organisations lobbied for parliament not to pass the law, saying it contradicts the Constitutional Court ruling, will disadvantage independent candidates and that the public participation process was inadequate.

They threatened to go back to court if the bill was signed into law in its current form.

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