President Cyril Ramaphosa has only a day left to meet the February 28 deadline that the Constitutional Court has imposed on him to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The Bill provides for independent candidates to also contest elections at both provincial and national levels.

The court earlier found that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional because it did not allow independent candidates to also contest for seats in the provincial legislatures and national Parliament.

Executive Chairperson of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa, Terry Tselane says, “The Constitutional Court had given Parliament 24 months to review the electoral legislation in order to ensure that other citizens are able to participate as independents rather than through membership of the political party.”

He adds, “That 24 months were eventually extended, and clearly, the time that the IEC requires to implement the processes leading up to the 2024 elections has been seriously constrained and I am certain that the president is well aware of the implications of not finalising this. In my opinion, it is better to have a bad legislation than not to have a legislation at all.”

Source: SABC News