The ANC wants a commission of inquiry to look into the best electoral system for SA, saying there is not enough time to devise a new system before the 2024 elctions.
In its submission this week to the National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP) select committee on the Electoral Amendment Bill, the party asked parliament to task the Electoral Commission (IEC) with setting up a commission “into the future of our electoral system and what would best suit our context”.
The party said long term reform should be the result of clear, thorough and evidence-based options and parliament did not have the time or information to examine alternative systems and make fundamental reforms.
ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said parliamentary committees had done their best within the short time available to marry two systems.
He said it would take at least four years to agree on and develop a new system. There was no way demarcation, constitutional change, legal change and electoral logistics could be completed before the 2024 elections.
The National Assembly passed the Electoral Amendment Bill last month amid opposition from civil society organisations arguing that it does not go far enough in providing for independent candidates contesting provincial and national elections.
The ANC has previously said the Constitutional Court did not rule on whether there should be a constituency-based system. If parliament were to adopt that system there would be a need to draft a demarcation act and that could not be done in the 24 months ordered by the court.
Mashatile acknowledged that many civil society organisations raised concerns about the electoral system and improving the accountability of MPs to voters.
“While we are currently trying to accommodate independents in a PR system, we should constantly engage on the issue of what system may best suit our country in the long term. PR or constituency systems are not the only options available,” he said.
Mashatile said many had raised the possibility of adopting a multi-member constituency system with a PR top-up component, as proposed by the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission, saying that could provide additional accountability to voters.
“We must bear in mind that the commission’s proposal did not accommodate independents but only short party lists for each constituency.”
While we are currently trying to accommodate independents in a PR system, we should constantly engage on the issue of what system may best suit our country in the long term
— ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile
Others had proposed single member constituency systems, he said.
A constitutional change would be required if any form of constituency elections was adopted as it would result in less proportionality.
“At the moment local government’s ward constituency system results in 7.5% lost or wasted votes ... whereas in national and provincial PR elections [it is] usually between 1% and 2.5%.
“Parliament will have to ultimately pass laws and change the constitution, but as it is made up of parties with very strong and often opposing vested interests, it is not the ideal body to do all the consultation and research needed to come with feasible models,” he said.
Mashatile said the urgency of the amendments and the need to prepare for the 2024 elections on solid legal foundations had to be recognised.
“The Constitutional Court made it clear last year that elections cannot be easily postponed. Averting court challenges and finalising amendments that meet the order of the court and cannot be challenged are the only ways to ensure that the IEC is able to deliver a complex and new system in time.”
The Constitutional Court found in June 2020 that exclusive party proportional representation could no longer be used and that independent candidates should be allowed to stand for provincial and national elections.
National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula indicated this week that the Electoral Amendment Bill, if passed as is, may only be valid for the 2024 elections.
She said if NCOP proposes changes to the bill, the National Assembly may only consider them after the elections, enabling parliament to meet the Constitutional Court-imposed deadline of December 10 to enact the law while noting any changes proposed by NCOP.
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