Cape Town - With less than two weeks left to comply with the order of the Constitutional Court to amend the Electoral Act, Parliament is in the dark whether its request for an extension will be granted.
It has now emerged that the New Nation Movement, which won the judgment that ordered independent candidates be allowed to contest for election in Parliament and provincial legislature, is opposing the extension of the June 10 deadline.
Even the Electoral Commission of South Africa is conditionally supporting Parliament’s application for extension on condition the draft bill was adopted in its current form without constituencies.
The bill was introduced to the national legislature only in January and it is required to go through various parliamentary processes in both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces before President Cyril Ramaphosa signs it into law.
After realising it would not meet the court’s deadline the national legislatures filed an application requesting an extension.
The home affairs portfolio committee is set to sit during the constituency period until June 28 to finalise the bill.
It has made a request to House chairperson Cedric Frolick and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina to revise its programme.
Parliamentary legal adviser Charmaine van der Merwe said the Constitutional Court had issued directions for parties to file written submissions.
“Already, the New Nation Movement is opposing the application,” Van der Merwe said.
She also said Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and the IEC had filed their responses and both supported the application.
Van der Merwe said the IEC supported the draft bill in the current form, without the provision of constituencies.
“The IEC has indicated to the court that if there are constituencies, they will need more time to prepare for the elections. The bill does not provide for that,” she said.
ACDP chief whip Steve Swart said it should be remembered that the bill was tabled in January this year.
“Parliament has done everything in (its) power to process the bill. There can be questions about the executive not tabling the bill when we have a Constitutional Court deadline,” Swart said.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula complained about the impression created that the lack of readiness with the bill was threatening the 2024 general elections.
“I don’t see in what way it is threatening the elections. According to the report I received from legal services, I know that we are really gunning (for) November 6 to finalise the whole thing,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
“If we finish and the president signs, then we will not have a problem if we are able to do it in six months. We believe that the entire process shall have been completed and every step shall have been taken to make sure that the bill is assented to by the president.”
She insisted that the 2024 elections would be threatened by the failure not to meet the court deadline.
“We have asked for an extension of six months. A lot of work has been done. It's small things which need to be sorted out in order for us to finalise the bill,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
However, she said it was good that parliament asked for an extension.
“It would have been bad for the Constitutional Court to say ‘you are in contempt because you have not finalised your work’. At least we applied for an extension,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Cape Times