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Independent candidates heading to court to contest provincial, national office

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Independent candidates wanting to contest national and provincial elections are heading to the Western Cape High Court this week.

The New Nation Movement has based its application on the 2018 judgement on political funding by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

It expressed a Constitutional stipulation, allowing all adults the right to stand for provincial or national office.

Currently, independent parties can only contest local government elections, because of a gap in the law. The Independent Electoral Commission as well as all parties represented in Parliament are respondents in the matter.

Constitutional Law professor Pierre De Vos says, “At the moment in South Africa, we have this issue where politicians have become more beholden to political parties than the electorate. And this is because party bosses are responsible for ensuring who makes it onto the party lists, and who makes it into legislatures. So situations where the electorate can directory elect who they want to go to parliament, and have that direct line of accountability, be a great move going forward.”

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