While one electoral hurdle has been overcome following Monday’s two Constitutional Court judgments involving independent candidates, Parliament has expressed its concern that another electoral bill still needs to be tabled.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court found the Electoral Amendment Act signed into law in April to be constitutionally sound in terms of the 50% splitting of seats in the National Assembly.
But there’s still another legal hoop Parliament needs to get through to give effect to independent candidates contesting national and provincial elections for the first time next year.
The Electoral Matters Amendment Bill seeks to amend four acts to make provision for the participation of independent candidates in national and provincial elections.
It will also amend the Political Party Funding Act to regulate the funding of independent candidates.
The bill, which is largely technical in nature, has been given the green light by Cabinet but not placed before Parliament.
But days before Parliament rises for the year, home affairs committee chairperson, Mosa Chabane, wants to get the ball rolling.
“It will be important that we liaise with the department so that at least it can be introduced to the House, we are able to receive a briefing from the minister before Parliament rises.”
The committee said it also wanted clear timeframes from the home affairs minister for the establishment of an electoral reform panel that will review the country’s electoral system.
-EWN
In other news – Photos: A look into radio presenter Khutso Theledi’s lobola negotiations
What a wedding celebration weekend for some well-known South African media personalities. Congratulatory messages were the order of the day as multi-award-winning Radio presenter Khutso Theledi and gospel singer, TV presenter, and businesswoman Winnie Mashaba showed off their wedding photos on social media as they celebrated with friends and family.
Metro FM presenter Khutso had a lobola celebration, and she shared how the day went with her Instagram followers. She posted an album of pictures with a caption: “Love across cultures, a promise made, a promise kept. #MakotiWaItaly.” Read More