The Inclusive Society Institute met with the Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Aaron Motsoaledi MP, on Thursday, 23 June 2022, to present the Institute’s proposals with regard to a new electoral model for South Africa. The Institute was represented by its CEO, Daryl Swanepoel, Professor David Masoma, a member of the Institute’s Advisory Council and members of the expert panel assembled by the Institute to design the proposed model, Mr Roelf Meyer (Convenor) and Professor William Gumede.
Whilst the objective of the Institute’s work was to respond to the Constitutional Court’s declaring of the current electoral act as unconstitutional, in that it does not allow for independent candidates to stand for election to the national and provincial legislatures, the panel was of the view that broader electoral reform was needed. Government agreed this was necessary, but has, given the tight timeframe for holding the next election (2024), only introduced draft legislation that responds to the Constitutional Courts ruling.
The meeting considered ways to effect broader reform, whilst cognisant of the practicalities of preparing timeously for the election. They considered the possibility of a two-prong approach, that is, to now introduced minimalistic changes to give effect to the Constitutional Court judgment in time for the 2024 election, and then directly thereafter commence a broader consultative process for introducing the broader reforms in time for the 2029 election.