Nineteen civil society groups are appealing that Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice reject the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill (EMAB), warning that if passed and signed into law it will weaken transparency and accountability in party funding legislation.

The contentious Bill was passed by the National Assembly and is now with the Select Committee to be voted on. If passed, it will go to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and then to the President to sign into law.

Civil society groups have written to the Select Committee, arguing that several of the Bill’s proposed amendments are unconstitutional and that the public participation process was not adequate.

“If passed in its current form, amendments the Bill makes to the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA) will weaken transparency and accountability in our party funding legislation. While there is a legitimate need to amend certain pieces of legislation to bring independent candidates into the political fold, the attempts to fundamentally alter aspects of the PPFA are opportunistic and make it easier for all political parties to solicit private funding with less public scrutiny," the groups warn.

The Bill holds amendments that expand the President’s powers in determining key limits in the PPFA, with no meaningful guidelines.

It gives the President sole discretion to determine the upper limit of donations made by private parties and the minimum amount required for political parties to disclose donations received from private parties.

The groups also noted the NCOP’s reluctance to entertain further public participation on the electoral legislation, which it describes as one of the most important in South African history.

“We maintain that the question of whether the changes to the EMAB, from the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs process to the Select Committee on Security and Justice, are material or not has not been fully tested. The role of this Committee as a bulwark against political overreach cannot be overstated. The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs made a grave error in adopting the EMAB and we appeal to you to reject the Bill or to make the necessary amendments and return it to the National Assembly,” the groups said.