Parliament to request yet another electoral bill deadline extension

Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee is to ask the National Assembly to request yet another extension to finalise the contentious electoral amendment bill.

The committee took the decision to ask the National Assembly to request another extension from the Constitutional Court after receiving substantive proposed amendments from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

The committee argued during its meeting on Friday it needed more time to allow for adequate public consultation on the proposed changes.

Parliament had been granted an extension to December 10 after it failed to meet the initial June deadline.

The controversial bill was passed by the National Assembly in October and sent to the NCOP for concurrence amid opposition from civil society bodies.

NGOs argued the bill had not gone far enough to allow independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections on a level playing field with political parties.

The NCOP has proposed adding a clause for the establishment of an electoral reform consultation panel to process any changes to the electoral system.

Steven Budlender, legal adviser to the department of home affairs which is sponsoring the bill, told the meeting it was prudent to request an extension to allow for public participation.

“The cases point in different directions depending on how you read them, but on balance our view is that we think it would be prudent to engage in further public participation. It can be a shortened period of public participation [and it can be] by means of written submissions, [since] there’s no need to have oral hearings,” Budlender said.

He emphasised that it was up to the committee to decide whether the window for public comment happens before the December 10 deadline.

Parliament's legal adviser Siviwe Njikela said the required deadline “could possibly be up to February” 2023.

Njikela raised concern that the festive season may affect public participation.

“If there is going to be further public participation, the committee must be mindful that we are already in December. The courts previously said it is not reasonable to make these extensions over the period where people are going on holidays. Another consideration is that people come back from those holidays mid-January,” Njikela said.

The majority of parties represented in the committee agreed that proper public consultation was required on the latest amendments from the NCOP.

Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (IEC) Mosotho Moepya said the extension would affect the commission’s preparations for the 2024 elections, but agreed it was necessary.

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