Issued by Ismail Joosub on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation:
The FW de Klerk Foundation is pleased to have attended the launch of the Civil Society Electoral Reform Panel (“CSERP”) at Constitutional Hill on 16 August 2024. This panel, initiated by My Vote Counts, arises in response to the exclusion of civil society from the government-appointed electoral reform panel, established earlier this year.
The CSERP emerges as a necessary response to the Constitutional Court’s 2020 ruling in New Nation Movement NPC and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others that required amendments to the Electoral Act to allow independent candidates. Despite this ruling, recent legislative changes have not adequately addressed the call for comprehensive reform. The Electoral Amendment Act, signed into law on 17 April 2024, falls short of the expected reforms. The Act’s failure to implement a mixed constituency-proportional system, as recommended by the Ministerial Advisory Committee (“MAC”) and the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission, highlights its inadequacies.
The MAC’s majority recommendation for a mixed system was largely ignored in favour of minimal amendments that do not fully accommodate independent candidates. This approach has been criticised for failing to correct long-standing issues in South Africa’s electoral framework. The Act’s provision for large province-wide constituencies and its unfair signature requirements for independents create significant barriers, undermining the goal of enhanced electoral responsiveness and accountability.
The CSERP aims to complement rather than compete with the government’s panel, addressing gaps left by recent legislative changes. It brings together civil society’s collective expertise to advocate for meaningful electoral reforms, ensuring that public representatives are more accountable to their constituencies.
Ismail Joosub, Manager of the Constitutional Advancement Programme at the FW de Klerk Foundation, remarked, “The CSERP’s launch marks a crucial step towards meaningful electoral reform. By integrating insights from various stakeholders, including civil society, this panel aims to enhance our democratic processes and ensure that all reforms align with constitutional values.”
Ezra Mendel, an intern with the Foundation, added, “Our participation in this launch underscores our dedication to advancing constitutional principles. We support the CSERP’s mission to explore and recommend reforms that will strengthen accountability and better represent South African voters.”
We thank My Vote Counts for including us in this significant event. The FW de Klerk Foundation remains committed to supporting efforts that align with our mission to promote constitutional advancement and foster transparent governance in South Africa.
Celebrate South Africa
Penuell Maduna>:{1999 – 2004} Maduna served as Minister of Minerals and Energy, focusing on the integration of energy policies with national development goals. He was involved in the restructuring of the energy sector post-apartheid.
Firecracker
USA: You have two cows. You outsource a farm to milk them and sell the milk to those who can afford it. You then use the profit to buy someone else\’s cow for your butcher to make steak with.
Twiddle Twix
Van is getting married, but he and his fiancee have never done the deed – in fact he\’s never been with any woman before. He\’s getting more and more nervous as the big day approaches, so he confides in his friend. His friend says \’No worries man. I\’ll come by the honeymoon suite before you guys get there, and I\’ll hide behind the curtain, and I\’ll whisper instructions to you.\’
\’You\’d do that for me?\’
\’Sure thing man!\’
So the wedding day arrives, it was a lovely service (so I was told, I wasn\’t there myself) and Van\’s friend sneaks into the honeymoon suite as promised and hides behind the curtain.
Van and his new wife arrive in the room, get settled on the bed, and things are getting steamy.
But Van is still super nervous and his tummy is bubbling, so he murmers to his wife, \’Listen babe, I\’m just gonna go to the bathroom quick. I think it\’s that wors roll from earlier.\’
\’Sure thing babe.\’
So Van goes into the bathroom, and he\’s taking quite a long time. And his wife is starting to feel the nerves herself. And it\’s getting worse. She can\’t hold it in. But she doesn\’t want to go after he\’s gone and totally ruin the mood. So she looks around and finally finds a shoebox. Quickly, she does her business in the shoebox, and she shoves it under the bed just as Van comes back from the loo.
Van gets back on the bed and they go at it again. But after a minute or so Van smells something not so lekker.
\’What\’s that smell?\’
\’Nothing babe,\’ he wife tries to assure him.
\’No man there\’s definitely something not so lekker in this room!\’VSo Van starts looking around the room, in the corners, in the cupboard, and finally he looks under the bed, and sees the shoebox.
He pull it out, and opens it up, and in horror he shouts \’Sies! Daar\’s kak in hierdie doos!\’
And from behind the curtain his friend yells, \’NEE MAN, DRAAI HAAR OM!\”