Independent candidates must be treated the same as political parties on election deposits

Strong views have emerged at the public participation of the Electoral Amendment Bill that independent candidates should be treated the same as political parties for the payment of election deposits.

A delegation of the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee concluded the first of three public hearings in Free State on Monday discussing the matter.

The committee is continuing with a public participation process across the country and Monday started hearings in Gauteng and the Free State.  

The Home Affairs Portfolio Committee said the view was that it will be patently unfair that there is a special dispensation when political parties and independent candidates contest for the same positions.

“For the 2019 provincial and national elections, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) approved election deposits of R200 000 for parties wishing to contest national elections and R45 000 per provincial election contested. The view was that these amounts should also apply to independent candidates.

The committee said there was widespread support for the bill, albeit with suggested amendments aimed at strengthening it.

“Some of the suggestions included the call for stricter guidelines for participation as an independent, calls for discarding votes in cases where an independent candidate achieves excess votes, a clear process of objections to signatures supporting an independent candidate’s candidature, and clear punishment for any person seeking to defraud the electoral system by submitting forged signatures for candidature.”

The committee also said there was support for the proportional representation model, with participants saying it allows for greater representation of women, youth, and other marginalised groups who might ordinarily be excluded under a constituency-based system. 

“Generally, there was a convergence of views that the time is ripe for the inclusion of independent candidates to participate in provincial and national elections and that this is a sign of democratic maturity.”

Despite the broad support for the bill, some opposed it, suggesting that South Africa is not administratively ready to run elections that include independent candidates.

They said the high number of candidates might make the process difficult.

ALSO READ: Dictatorship and community objections: Unease over Electoral Bill for independent candidates