The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Thursday said it was ready to assist parliament with revising the country’s electoral system and legislation, following a landmark constitutional court judgment that now allows independent candidates to contest provincial and national polls. 

The judgment was handed down earlier in the day by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. 

“The electoral commission welcomes the clarity the court has provided to the interpretation of the rights of citizens to stand for public office. We will study the judgment in detail to reflect on its full implications for the current electoral system and legislative framework governing national and provincial elections,” said commission chairperson, Glen Mashinini. 

The IEC said the timing of the judgment and the parliamentary review of the electoral system it had prompted was opportune, given the maturing of South Africa’s democracy and the looming impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on election processes around the world. 

The court has given parliament 24 months to revise the legislation. The IEC said it stood ready to provide technical assistance for the process in order to help enhance the country’s electoral system. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the court judgment, the Herman Mashaba-led The People’s Dialogue said the ruling had paved the way for electoral reform in South Africa.

“In our view, for the Constitutional Court ruling to be given full expression, Parliament must amend the Electoral Act to provide for a change to our electoral system. Parliament must amend the Electoral Act to provide for a mixed electoral system, providing for at least half of the 400 seats to be directly elected through constituencies,” said Mashaba. 

The former Johannesburg mayor said this would allow for a situation, for the first time in democratic South Africa, where voters could hold individual members of parliament accountable for their performances and voting records. 

“The problem lies with members of Parliament, and our current political parties, being vehemently opposed to any form of direct accountability. The fallout they would experience from any form of direct accountability would be disastrous for them, given the poor calibre of candidates that political parties put forward to represent the people of South Africa,” said Mashaba. 

“This is why the political party that I am working to establish has placed electoral reform as one of our key values. While we will push for these reforms in Parliament, we are going to live the principle of accountability internally. Our party has already committed to subject aspirant candidates to a system of primary elections, where members of the public will be able to vote for the candidate from our party, that they would like to see standing in their community when they go to the ballot box.” 

He said this would lead to a higher calibre of candidates, chosen by residents of specific areas, to serve their communities. 

“This same system will be used as a performance management system to hold candidates to account should they fail the residents who elected them,” said Mashaba. 

The New Nation Movement brought the application challenging Electoral Act 73 of 1998. It requested the apex court to allow independent candidates to run for elections at provincial and national levels.