South Africa: Electoral Act Ruled to be Unconstitutional by Constitutional Court

Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
Constitutional Court (file photo).
11 June 2020
allAfrica.com
By Andre van Wyk

Cape Town — A landmark judgment by the Constitutional Court has found that the current Electoral Act 73 of 1998 is unconstitutional, News24 writes.

The ruling comes after the New Nation Movement, which claimed that the legislation infringes on the right to exercise individual political choices, sought a bid to allow an independent candidate to contest elections.

Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga who delivered the ruling said: "I can conceive no reason that the limitation is justified. The Electoral Act is unconstitutional the appeal must succeed."

Subsequently, former mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba called on Parliament to amend the Electoral Act, according to Times Live.

Mashaba said: "This would allow for a situation, for the first time in democratic SA, where voters could hold individual members of parliament accountable for their performance and their voting records. The problem lies with members of parliament, and our current political parties, being vehemently opposed to any form of direct accountability."

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