ConCourt declares Electoral Act unconstitutional
The Constitutional Court handed down a landmark ruling by declaring that the Electoral Act unconstitutional on Thursday.
The ruling will allow independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections without being a members of a political party.
New Nation Movement (NNM) challenged the constitutionality of the Electoral Act.
As it stands, the act only allowed candidates of political parties to contest elections and not adult citizens to be elected to the national and provincial legislatures as independent candidates.
The declaration of invalidity comes into effect from the date of the judgement.
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The invalidity is suspended for 24 months to allow parliament to amend and rectify the defect.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga handed down judgment.
"This leads to the conclusion that in so far as it makes it impossible for candidates to stand for political office without being members of political parties the electoral acts limits the section 19 (3b) rights," Madlanga said.
"The question is whether the limitation is reasonable and justifiable as envisaged in section 36 (1) of the constitution. None of the parties affidavits dealt with this question.”
Madlanga said the apex court couldn’t find any justification to limit the participation of candidates
"It is thus declared that in so far as it makes it impossible for candidates to stand for political office without members of political parties the electoral act is unconstitutional.”