THE ground-breaking judgment on independent candidates will be delivered on Monday, 4 December.
The Constitutional Court will rule whether item 1 of Schedule 1A of the Electoral Amendment Act is irrational and inconsistent with the Constitution as independent candidates can only contest elections for 200 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly (NA).
Build One South Africa (Bosa) and Independent Candidates Association South Africa brought the application to the court to determine if allowing independent candidates to only contest elections for 200 seats violates the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.
Bosa has been vocal about the delay in the crucial judgment in the election case, saying the longer it takes, the more days the ANC will stay in power.
Daily Sun reported on 30 November that Bosa claimed that the delay favoured the ruling party.
ALSO READ: Mine Tragedy: Workers fear for their lives!
In 2020, the Constitutional Court found in the case of the New Nation Movement that Electoral Act 73 of 1998 was inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid to the extent that it did not make provision for adult individual citizens to stand for a political office other than through political parties.
The Constitutional Court afforded Parliament 24 months to remedy the constitutional defect.
Parliament has produced the Electoral Amendment Act 1 of 2023, which was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 17 April.
The Amendment Act sought to remedy the constitutional defect identified by the Constitutional Court.
One of the requirements is that they must obtain signatures of supporters which would amount to 15% of the number of votes required for one seat, which is likely to be between 4 000 and 9 000 signatures for the provincial legislature and between 10 000 and 14 000 for the NA.
Parliament and Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi opposed the application.
Motsoaledi said there are “deeply compelling” reasons for the 200/200 split. He pointed out that the signature requirement of the Amendment Act is justifiable to ensure that only serious candidates stand for election.
