The leader of the Build One South Africa movement (BOSA), Mmusi Maimane and other independent candidates will on Tuesday challenge the constitutionality of the Electoral Amendment Act at the Constitutional Court.
The movement is challenging it alongside the Independent Candidates Association of South Africa.
The new Act will allow independent candidates to stand in provincial and national elections next year.
Maimane, however, says that the new act favours political parties more than independent candidates.
“We’ve always argued the issue of the quota – in terms of what is the number of votes required per seat. If you’re a political party – you only need 40 000 votes per seat and if you’re an independent candidate you need 90 000. That clearly indicates that the weighting of the seats is different.”
“Political parties can get more, on the basis of the remainder – because once you do the principle of proportionality, you end up with political parties getting more seats. So, it’s more possible that a party with 50 000 votes can end up with two seats, whereas an independent with 90 000 votes doesn’t,” explains Maimane.
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