Parliament has moved one step closer to finalising the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill despite threats by opposition parties to institute legal action if it is passed in its current form.
On Wednesday, the select committee on security and justice gave the green light to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to pass the bill.
The bill is a sequel to the Electoral Amendment Act that was passed last year to provide for independent candidates to stand for election to Parliament and provincial legislatures.
It provides for the regulation of the private and public funding of independent candidates and independent representatives, among other things.
In terms of its proposed funding formula, the allocation of party funding has been changed from two-thirds proportional and one-third equitable to 90% proportional and 10% equitable.
Opposition parties have raised concerns that the amendments were substantive, rushed and set to benefit the ANC to the disadvantage of smaller parties.
However, the ANC pushed at the Wednesday meeting that a recommendation be made to the NCOP to adopt the bill without amendments, with the DA and IFP objecting.
After the parties stated their positions, committee chairperson Shahidabibi Shaikh said the bill was duly adopted.
“In terms of our recommendation, the select committee on security and justice, having considered the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill referred to the committee on the 12th March, recommends that the council passes the bill without amendments,” Shaikh said.
The committee also adopted a report on the bill that will be tabled for consideration when the NCOP passes the proposed legislation.
This was despite representatives of the IFP, UDM, PAC, ACDP, the GOOD Party and the Freedom Front Plus on Tuesday threatening to go to court if changes to the political party funding model were signed into law.
A letter by 19 civil society groups appealing to reject the bill in its current form and send it back to the National Assembly for remedy citing unconstitutional amendments has also been ignored.
In its report, the select committee noted that the bill was introduced in Parliament in December and was taken on joint public participation with the portfolio committee on home affairs in January, followed by public hearings in February.
On March 13, the National Assembly passed the bill and then referred it to the NCOP for concurrence.
“There were no proposed amendments tabled. The committee on 20 March 2024 proceeded to consider and adopt the bill as referred without proposed amendments,” reads the report.
However, it said the amendments were not material but were consequential in nature and the bill did not require public participation.
The report stated that donation thresholds and upper limits for donation disclosures were moved to the regulations.
“These regulations should be ready as soon as the bill is enacted to prevent confusion on donations prior to the pending elections.
“The committee was assured that the National Assembly would pass a resolution urgently and the department would gazette the regulations as soon as the bill is assented.”
The report recorded the DA’s objection that the amendment on party funding model was neither proportional nor equitable and that they would have a drastic effect on smaller parties and independent candidates.
“The DA proposed that the funding model currently used remains and that a proper investigation be done into party funding allocation before the laws are amended.”
Cape Times