Cape Town — Parliament has announced plans to modify its internal procedures, processes, and systems to accommodate the forthcoming changes in the electoral system, potentially allowing independent candidates to enter the legislature for the first time in 2024.
Ahead of the general elections, the Constitutional Court made a ruling on the challenges to the Electoral Amendment Act which noted that Independent Candidates will need at least 1 000 signatures to contest the 2024 elections.
According to the IEC, the the Electoral Amendment Bill was signed into law in April. This is significant in that it expands electoral participation and widens the pool of leadership choice for national and provincial elections.
Some of the implications of the new Act includes the inclusion and nomination of independent candidates as contesters to elections in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures for the first time, requirements which must be met by persons who wish to be nominated as independent candidates, and provision for objections to independent candidates, among others.
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President Ramaphosa gave notice to Parliament that he intends to deliver during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February next year. arliament says it’s getting ready to welcome the seventh Parliament in what will be South Africa’s 30th year of democracy, EWN reported.
Parliament said almost 900 meetings took place between April and November to allow parliamentarians to probe issues impacting citizens. MPs conducted 19 oversight visits to institutions and municipalities to assess service delivery, with 86% of 4 000 questions answered.
Parliament said that the 65 hearings they’d held in the nine provinces between July and September on a number of bills was a testament to efforts to involve the public in lawmaking.
Parliament said that construction of its new green buildings would also begin in earnest next year after a fire gutted the National Assembly chamber almost two years ago.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
