The extended deadline of October 31 has been set for submitting your ideas about altering the way we vote for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (ERCP) said it was looking to hear from everyone, including organisations, political parties, or think-tanks about running as an independent candidate.
The panel stated that it was seeking fresh ideas on how to improve the electoral system for the elections following the big 2024 event.
These changes would come into play for the 2029 elections.
“Section 23 of the Electoral Amendment Act of 2023 provided for the establishment of the ERCP ‘to independently investigate, consult on, report on, and make recommendations in respect of potential reforms of the electoral system for the election of the National Assembly and the election of the provincial legislatures, in respect of the elections to be held after the 2024 elections’,” the panel said.
Proportional representation
The current system for national and provincial elections has been around since 1998. It is based on party lists and proportional representation.
This means we vote for parties, and those parties then pick who will sit in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
However, the 2023 amendment now allows independent candidates to enter the race.
In May 2024, the National Assembly approved nine experts from fields like academia, law, and governance to dig into this whole consultation thing.
The panel is expected to come back with a report full of suggestions by May 31, 2025.
The experts have laid out six key principles to guide the public in choosing the best electoral system.
“These principles draw on the country’s founding values set out in Section 1 of the constitution to establish a multi-party system of democratic government based on accountability, responsiveness, and openness to uphold values of human dignity, non-racialism, non-sexism, and the achievement of equality.”
Written submission
The experts invite everyone to pitch in with written submissions.
“The ERCP respectfully calls and requests members of the public, as individuals or through organisations to which they belong, to make submissions on why, how, and whether the current South African electoral system should be reformed, changed, or even replaced with another one.”
The department (of home affairs) It is stated that the panel was open to hearing your thoughts, regardless of how much or how little you have to share.
Additionally, a series of public consultations will be held.
All these chats and written thoughts will help them put together a report for the Minister of Home Affairs by May 31. Then it is off to parliament for the review.
