In most voters and democracy education workshops and discussions across the districts, so many questions were raised. Here I list a few key and issues raised by various stakeholder who called for serious mobilisation for awareness and solidarity action on electoral and constitutional reforms on the following areas:
- Problems of the Electoral System of Proportional Representation: The current proportional representation system was heavily debated. Most people felt that the proportional representation system does not effectively represents the interests of all citizens. They question whether the President should not be voted for directly by the electorate. There are discussions about the need for better representation of minority groups, including women, youth, and indigenous peoples (the Sun and the Xi).
Recommendation – There is a need for further consultation and development of a policy submission that looks at whether there should be changes to a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system or another model.
- The Unconstitutionality of the Bill on Political Party Funding: Transparency and accountability in party funding remains extremely contentious issues. Participants expressed unhappiness that in some cases 5 rich families fund the same political parties who are in parliament. President Ramaphosa agreed to the unconstitutional Electoral Matters Amendment Bill (EMAB). The Bill, introduced in December 2023 and was necessary to amend several pieces of legislation to allow independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections. But the Bill appears to be used opportunistically by the ANC to undermine political party funding laws. The Bill is deeply flawed and unconstitutional because it places power in the President to determine the upper limit of political party donations and the reporting threshold in the PPFA. This arrangement essentially allows the President to set rules that could disproportionately benefit their political interests, creating an unequal playing field for other political entities. Because there are no limits and no reporting requirements, this means that political parties will be able to take donations, of any nature and amount, and not have to make this public. This is the type of environment that enabled State Capture, and as well, has a dangerous impact on transparency and accountability.
Recommendation -There was no need to amend the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA) in the way it has been. Financial donation limits should be proclaimed by the President to avoid the huge gap, and if the limits are the same, or close to what they are currently, the impact of this specific amendment, for now at least, will be limited. – we need to support civil society to closely monitoring developments and advocate for this work, as well as consider legal action to protect political party funding transparency and accountability.
- The headache of Poor Voter Registration Turnout: Ensuring a fair and inclusive electoral process involves efforts to increase voter registration, especially among marginalized communities, and to address barriers to voter turnout. One way to address the problem of voter registration isbu legislating that registration as voter should automatically be done when one takes South African Identity Document. This voter registration will be a responsibility of the Department of Home Affairs as they issue an Identity Document. This cuts off the hustles as well as huge expenditure of voter registration by IEC just before the elections.
Recommendation: consulting further with civil society soon after the 29 May 2024 National and provincial elections, consulting with Law Society, Law clinics and Black Lawyers Association and developing a policy submission document to Portfolio Committees and to provincial and National parliaments.
- Electoral Integrity and Questions on the Issuing of Observer Accreditation: IEC is the sole entity authorised to issue accreditation of election observers who happen to observe it. This is perceived as an IEC conflict of interest. There are concerns about the possibility IEC not granting or delaying granting accreditation status to certain people who might be perceived as critical to it. There are fears of the possibility of electoral fraud and irregularities. After the MK court cases, some community members suspect IEC to be captured by the ANC and think that its independence is compromised.
Recommendation: There is a need to consult with legal minds about the fears and the legalities that will ensure protection of democracy and integrity of the IEC. Civil society calls for electoral reforms to enhance the integrity of the EMB by ensuring that the observer accreditation responsibility is granted to the Ombudsman, the Public protector, the Human Rights Commission or the Auditor General or at least that that the EMB must consider observation accreditation working in close conjunction with one of these Chapter 9 institutions.
- Constitutional Amendments in relation to (i) lack of consultation of rural communities about by-laws and lack of delivery of basic services – Most provinces advocate for constitutional amendments to address perceived shortcomings of democratic principles. There is a huge information gap between the government and masses. There is a serious lack of consultation to involve ordinary people, especially in rural areas. Inaccessibility of information and participation is because (i) lack of adequate consultation, and (ii) most of the communication with important information is in English, which in most cases is in technical legal terminology hence inhibiting local community participation as well as to contributing to people being unable to demand delivery of basic necessities such as water, electricity, tarred roads, clinics and basic social facilities such as sport fields, and picnic centre.
Recommendation – In the post-election period, there is a need to consult more communities and concretise recommendations for constitutional amendments related to the different areas that affect most of the population.