Africa-Press – South-Africa. Civic groups have made a last-ditch appeal to parliamentarians to reject the Electoral Amendment Bill.
In a statement, five civic groups have called on lawmakers to safeguard the country’s democracy from being harmed through the passing of “a Bill that will affect one of the most sacrosanct gifts of our democracy, the vote”.
The organisations are Rivonia Circle, My Vote Counts, Defend Our Democracy, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.
“The result is that you are being requested to consider and vote on a Bill that is unfair and unjust to independent candidates. It is also a Bill that will significantly disenfranchise voters. The foundations of our electoral system are based on the long traditions of the liberation struggle that call for “one person, one vote” of equal value. The proposed system significantly erodes the equality of our votes,” their statement reads.
The statement is underwritten by 30 well-known civic groups.
On Thursday, the Bill is up for adoption in the National Assembly after the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs completed its work on the legislation last week.
The gist of civil society’s objection to the Bill is that it won’t ensure greater accountability.
The Bill provides for the participation of independent candidates, but retains the proportional electoral system.
Civic groups generally prefer a system providing for the election of 200 of the National Assembly’s seats through a proportional ballot, and for the remaining 200 to be elected directly through a constituency system.
“As civil society organisations, we have been proactive in our communication with the portfolio committee. This has regrettably not yielded much room for robust and deep engagement.
The groups’ statement reads:
They added that they intended to inform South Africans of the injustice Parliament was about to inflict on democracy, should the bill be passed.
“For this reason, we will also inform South Africans to take note of those political parties who vote in favour of this Bill, so that in the 2024 elections they can isolate such actors because they pose a direct threat to the strength of our cherished democracy.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
