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The FW de Klerk Foundation is concerned that the final amendments to the Municipal Electoral Regulations, gazetted on 14 October 2026, contain a significant change that was not included in the draft regulations published for public comment in August 2026.

The concern relates to the new objection procedure in Regulation 28F. The draft regulations which were opened for public comment allowed interested parties to lodge election objections by email within two days after voting. The final regulations retain that procedure, but add a new requirement: objections must now be set out in a sworn statement or affirmation.

The Foundation's concern is not primarily the substance of the new requirement. The concern is about the procedural aspect of the matter and the fact that the public was consulted on one version of the regulations, while the final version introduced an additional procedural requirement that was never published for comment.

"Meaningful public participation requires that the public be given an opportunity to comment on the measures that will ultimately become law. In this instance, South Africans were invited to comment on one objection procedure, but the final regulations imposed an additional requirement that was never subjected to public scrutiny," says Daniela Ellerbeck, attorney and Constitutional Rights Programme Manager at the FW de Klerk Foundation.

"The constitutional question is not whether a sworn statement is desirable. The question is whether a material amendment was introduced after the consultation process had closed. If it was, Constitutional Court judgments are clear that the public should have been afforded an opportunity to comment on it," added Ellerbeck.

The FW de Klerk Foundation calls on the Electoral Commission to explain why the additional requirement was introduced without further public participation and whether its constitutional implications were considered before the regulations were finalised.

Issued by Daniela Ellerbeck on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation