Home Affairs moves to purge dormant parties before elections

The Department of Home Affairs is in a race against time to bring a new bill to parliament before the next local government elections.

Most of the amendments sought by the electoral commission are largely technical in nature, but would see dozens of unrepresented political parties being deregistered for failing to confirm they are still active organisations that plan to contest elections.

With expectations that the next polls will be held before the end of the year, the bill is yet to make it to the cabinet for approval.

The proposed Electoral Matters Amendment Bill would seek to amend three election-related acts.

Among the proposals are the mandatory deregistration of political parties that don’t confirm their existence, as IEC chairman Mosotho Moepya explains:

"As we often find, there are many that just don’t do [file a return], and don’t participate ever and simply stop participating."

Further amendments relate to enhancing the provision related to the eligibility of parties to contest elections.

"We are also amending provisions providing for the requirements for eligibility to apply for registration as a voter."

ALSO READ: IEC: 508 registered political parties in SA

Amendments are also proposed to the timeframes for dealing with objections and to strengthen the iec’s authority to handle them.

It could take at least seven months to get a bill through both houses of parliament once it’s tabled.

The committee has heard that the bill still requires a socio-economic assessment certification from the Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation before it can be submitted to the cabinet.

Meanwhile, the committee plans to undertake a study tour to India in the coming months to learn more about electronic voting in preparation for the 2029 elections.