Chairperson of the Moral Generation Movement, Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, has added his voice to growing calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill into law.
In a letter addressed to Ramaphosa, the National Council of Provinces, leaders of political parties represented in parliament, business organisations, civil society and organised labour, Mkhatshwa said the bill as it stands does not allow for a direct link between an independent candidate and their constituency.
Mkhatshwa said the bill undermines independent candidates’ constitutional right to stand for public office, and if elected, hold public office, without joining a political party.
“The proposed amendments do not attempt to and are contemptuous of the will of all South Africans. It violates the ruling of the Constitutional Court’s judgment in the New National Movement matter it was seized with when it strongly in its judgment that a conscious choice not to form or join a political party is as much a political choice as is the choice to form or join a political party; and it must equally be deserving of protection.
“Once an adult citizen is forced to exercise the section 19(3)(b) right through a political party, that divests him/her of the very choice guaranteed by section 19(1) not to form or join a political party. That cannot be...,’’ said Mkhatshwa.
In 2020, the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment compelling SA lawmakers to amend the Electoral Act and to allow independent candidates to contest the 2024 elections.
Mkhatshwa said the bill does not allow for a direct link between the independent candidate and the constituency in order to forge a direct and clear understanding of a mandate between the people and their elected representatives.
“In present circumstances, the right to make free political choices is severely curtailed in that all voters and candidates must be free to vote for or stand for any office in any legislature without facing unfair competition and impediments from political parties through unscientific quotas and other arbitrary minimum requirements that determine how the independent candidates must qualify to stand.
“An independent candidate is independent of political parties and party bosses but is dependent on the people he or she represents, if that will of the people is not directly known and monitored until it is done then an authenticity and fidelity and undermined and a political drift follows. The representatives are forever at risk of being disconnected from the constituency and from the will of the people, the present amendments do not attend to this fundamental value in our constitution,’’ said Mkhatshwa.
He said the process to amend the bill was flawed, adding the participation process was not substantial enough.
“While the bill under discussion may not be a panacea for all our political issues, it has the real potential to give power to the people. We urge the council of provinces (representing a voice even closer to the people on the ground) to apply brakes on this nightmarish political adventurism. To the president, do not sign this bill in its present form. Allow a truly broad-based democratic process to unfold to allow the people to shout “elethu,’’ said Mkhatshwa.
National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said if passed as is, the bill may only be valid for the 2024 elections.
kokam@sowetan.co.za
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