The EFF says lobby group Afriforum’s court application shows that it’s confused about the difference between public consultation and a referendum.
EFF Spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi says if Parliament wanted a quantitative outcome on amending section 25 of the Constitution, it would have conducted a referendum for people to vote Yes or No.
Ndlozi says it would be unfair if Afriforum wants written submissions to outweigh public hearings that took place in the town halls across the country. He says not everyone in the town halls were able to participate during the hearings, and not everyone who could not participate has access to the internet, to alternatively make written submissions.
Ndlozi has dismissed Afriforum’s court bid: “The first thing to underscore here is that Afriforum is approaching the courts on behalf of the opposition, of other opposition parties that lost the debate in the Constitutional Review Committee – in the main the DA, the Freedom Front, the ACDP as well as COPE – because these are the people who within the committee threatened to take legal action against the resolution of the Constitutional Review committee. And if you read the application, they confuse a referendum with a public consultation.”
Note: This story has been amended to correctly reflect Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s words.
