Madame Speaker,

At his inauguration speech in 1994 President Nelson Mandela said, and I quote: “Out of the experience of extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all of humanity will be proud.”

We cannot be proud of the corruption, breakdown in the rule of law and complete lack of accountability we experience today under an ANC government.

We cannot be proud when this very house is chastised for failing to do the right thing and failing to hold those responsible to account. South Africans pay for it with massive food prices; at the petrol pump; when they pay for extra security; when they are charged e-tolls; when they can’t find a job.

And we cannot be proud of the Bill before the house today.

In 28 years since that momentous day in 1994 the ANC has somehow failed to bring electoral reform. It took a court application to start the process. The new nation movement judgment instructed this house to amend our electoral law so that citizens can participate in national and provincial elections as individuals and added that the system must result in general proportionality.

The first glaring problem is that the bill proposes that independent candidates be able to stand for election to the national assembly in each province, however, it excludes them from standing on the proportional representative list. They can only gain a region to national assembly seat in one province and the rest of their votes are discarded. However, they must pay the fee and submit the support petitions in every province. This has the result that an independent can gain enough votes across provinces to gain a seat but not be awarded a seat. Furthermore, they are excluded from contesting 200 of the 400 available seats. This is clearly unfair.

The leader of the ministerial advisory committee on the bill questions where the seat allocation system comes from as it was nowhere in their report and is unprecedented in world elections. The answer is found in the fact that the recalculations from all these votes discarded across provinces see the ANC as the most likely beneficiaries. I must take this opportunity to thank Mike Atkins, who did the calculations and provided a detailed submission to point out this problem. The simple answer is to allow independents to stand on the PR list and in one province - same as party candidates.

The next serious concern is that this Bill potentially excludes agents from observing the election process. The committee unanimously agreed that independents and parties be entitled to two agents to view the voting process. However, when this was given effect in a proposed amendment it was worded in such a way that it gives the IEC the discretion to

reduce the number based on a specific venue. The DA argued for a minimum and this was supported by the legal advisors, but nevertheless, this clause was adopted with no minimum. This is extremely dangerous for the IEC to be able to make such a call as it potentially excludes agents from observing the election process.

The requirements for deposits and support petitions are common around the world. However, political parties have a lower requirement when they are registered and the DA proposed that this number be raised in line with the requirements of independents. This was not accepted even though it is a rational and fair solution, and will surely be successfully challenged in court as an unfair disadvantage to independents.

Although the new nation movement judgment didn’t prescribe overall electoral reform it is becoming more critical than ever. There is a narrative that all parties are protecting the status quo. I can tell you only the ANC voted for this bill in the committee. The DA went one step further and proposed a sunset clause to ensure that this electoral reform takes place immediately after the 2024 election which was, again, not accepted.

We have seen flip-flopping by the ANC on several issues on the bill and even whether it will be supported or opposed. But this is what you get where decisions are not made on values but rather the expediency of the day and whatever it takes to get through the next uncomfortable situation.

We need electoral reform based on shared values. We need a government built around shared values. And we need this without delay.

We simply do not have the time to have this taken to court for such obvious shortcomings. These matters will be raised in court if we do not make the only rational decision here and send this bill back to the committee to effect the necessary changes. Failure to do so will make those complicit but constitutional crisis will be on your hands. The DA rejects this bill.