Proposed amendments to Electoral Act ‘will make SA far worse’
The New Nation Movement has warned that the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act will put the country’s democracy “in a worse situation than before".
The organisation briefed the media on the Electoral Amendment Bill in Pretoria on Monday.
In June 2020, Constitutional Court found the Electoral Act constitutionally invalid due to the fact that it prevents independent candidates to stand for political office.
The case was brought by the New Nation Movement, but its director Tshepi Finca says the amendments have not inspired any confidence.
"The proposed amendments to the Electoral Act, which we anticipate Parliament to finalise for promulgation into law in the coming days, places our nation in a worse situation than before. They are less open, less fair and less transparent than the unconstitutional electoral dispensation we've had so far."
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Finca says one of the proposals they would like to see the light of day is for candidates to face voters "directly".
"An independent candidate would have to face voters directly whereas a member of a political party would not. Members of Parliament have in any event displayed a great aversion to facing the public directly and to be asked to account directly, why for one they allowed state capture and the collapse of key institutions?”
Parliament has been granted two extensions in an attempt to finalise the bill, and needs to do so by 28 February.
