ANC must clarify its stance on the Electoral Amendment Bill

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation takes note of the comments made by the Minister of Home Affairs with regards to the address made by Mr Snuki Zikalala at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundations annual lecture held on the 15 October 2022. The AKF requested the ANC and DA to send representatives who would respond to the address of Mr Valli Moosa. Both organisations acknowledged receipt of the invitation but only the ANC indicated that they would send a representative.

The Foundation received notice on Friday evening that Mr Zikalala would be the mandated speaker. At no stage did we invite the Minister to be the respondent because the AKF deemed it important to hear first hand from the two biggest political parties why they were supporting what many consider to be flawed bill.

It is regrettable that the Minister has chosen to admonish Mr Zikalala in the manner that he has. It is up to the ANC to now clarify what Mr Zikalala’s mandate was and to also clear up where it stands on the bill, which we now learn will be considered by Parliament on the 20th.It was clear from the contributions of Mr Zikalala and Mr Hanekom that the NEC of the ANC has not deliberated extensively on this matter but appeared to have merely adopted the recommendation to support the minority view of the ministerial advisory committee on electoral reform.

It is the view of a large body of civil society organisations that the bill which will be tabled in parliament for its approval is flawed and will, if signed by the President into law, most likely challenged at the Constitutional Court.