By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
It’s going to take a bit of funding and jumping through hoops but South African voters can now elect anybody to represent them in Parliament.
And by a long throw of the dice, that person could even become the next president.
No more requirements to be a member of a political party.
But there is a minefield of conditions.
The toughest precondition will be collecting thousands of names of registered voters, their ID numbers and their signatures.
For instance, for an independent candidate based in the Eastern Cape, to contest a seat in the National Assembly would require an upfront backing of 11,656 people.
That’s 15% of the 77,713 votes that were required to secure a parliamentary constituency in the EC in the 2019 elections.
The required quotas differ by province. In the Free State it’s 11,314, Gauteng (13,819), KwaZulu-Natal (13,046), Limpopo (11,329), Mpumalanga (11,924), North West (10,652), Northern Cape (10,271) and the Western Cape (13,201).
Political parties are not required to provide proof that thousands will indeed support their cause ahead of every election.
A new law signed this week allows for any individual to be elected into the highest office in the land without first joining a political party.
It has taken almost 30 years to get to this point.
And judging by the preconditions for one to stand as an independent candidate, it will take more years for the intended outcome of the Constitution to be met.
President Cyril Ramaphosa finally signed into law the Electoral Amendment Bill of 2022.
He was forced by a Constitutional Court judgment handed down on 11 June 2020 which declared the Electoral Act of 1998 unconstitutional.
The outdated Act said one had to be a member of a political party to be elected into the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
Not anymore.
Ramaphosa said: “The Electoral Amendment Bill marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our democracy by expanding electoral participation and widening the pool of leadership choice for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The bill presents a development that can only enrich and sustain our growing constitutional democracy.”
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya presented the list of conditions at a media briefing on Monday.
- An independent candidate may be nominated to contest in one or more regions but may only be elected to one seat in the National Assembly.
- May only be nominated to stand in a provincial legislature in a province in which they are registered.
- May only be a member of the National Assembly or a provincial legislature
- A prescribed declaration confirming that the candidate has submitted names, identity numbers and signatures of voters who support his or her candidature will be required.
- The names must equal 15% of the number of votes required to obtain a seat for that region in the preceding election if contesting only one region.
- Must also pay deposits to the IEC.
These provisions are expected to make one of the most exciting elections since the miracle of 1994 to be truly a watershed election in South Africa.
Picture source: Polling booth
Image source: IEC
