IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SOUTH AFRICA’s ELECTORAL SYSTEM REFORM PROCESS

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SOUTH AFRICA’s ELECTORAL SYSTEM REFORM PROCESS

• 31 August 2026
• In the Spotlight
• SA Legal Academy

A joint parliamentary committee media statement has drawn attention to a process begun more than two years ago with the aim of determining ‘why, how and whether the current South African electoral system should be reformed, changed, or even replaced’. This is noting that:

• sub-section 23(1) of the 2023 Electoral Amendment Act required the Minister of Home Affairs to establish an electoral reform consultation panel within four months of the Act’s commencement
• the Act became effective in June 2023 (among other things allowing independent candidates to compete for seats in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures)
• the panel was eventually appointed in May 2024 by former Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, and that
• in September 2025, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber issued a media statement:
  • announcing that the panel had submitted its report in August 2025, and that
  • the report had been duly tabled in Parliament and published.

The joint media statement was published on 31 August 2026 but backdated by two days following a meeting of three parliamentary committees:

• the National Assembly Committee on Home Affairs
• the National Assembly Committee on Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs, and
• the NCOP Committee on Security & Justice.

According to the statement, the next step in considering possible reforms outlined in the report will be the preparation of a ‘draft roadmap’ underpinned by ‘overarching political and policy choices’ on which parties represented in the three committees will need to agree.

The statement tends to suggest that the roadmap will be informed by input from the Independent Electoral Commission and Municipal Demarcation Board. This is especially given ‘the practical implications of the different reform options’ and the ‘technical work’ likely to be entailed.

The roadmap is expected to include a comprehensive public consultation process so that ordinary South Africans ‘understand the consequences of the choices before Parliament’ and ‘inform the policy choices ultimately made’.

Only as the process unfolds will it become clear whether more amending legislation is required.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs Committee has issued a press release announcing that it will not be possible to process and pass the recently tabled Local Government: Municipal System Amendment Bill before the November 2026 local government elections. SA Legal Academy has already reported on the meeting at which this became apparent. Popularly known as the municipal ‘Coalitions Bill’, this proposed new piece of legislation seeks to provide a clear legislative framework for the formation of coalition governments at municipal level and to establish mechanisms to minimise related challenges.

It is not clear whether Parliament intends fast tracking an Electoral Laws Amendment Bill expected to be tabled soon. As SA Legal Academy has also reported, among other things the Bill seeks to improve the overall administration and management of elections in the best interests of credible outcomes.

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

Follow us on X @SALegalAcademy (you can also join us on LinkedIn and Facebook)

If you use this information in articles, reports and social media posts of your own, please acknowledge SA Legal Academy Policy Watch as your source

0 COMMENTS

LEAVE A COMMENT