Election list surprises and the way forward

Yesterday, 12 March, marked the deadline for political parties intending to contest the national election to submit their candidate lists that will represent them in Parliament, says the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). The ANC has released three lists – a national list featuring MPs who will serve in the National Assembly, a provincial list, and a provincial to national list that indicates the names of MPs that could move from provincial to national office.

Much has been said in the news about the Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission, Trevor Manuel, and Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, choosing not to return for the Fifth Parliament. However, there are ANC stalwarts that are noticeably missing from the ANC’s list of national candidates:

Some of the Chairpersons of current portfolio committees that have been left off the national list, but appear on the provincial to national list include:

• Adv Johannes De Lange: Chairperson of Water, Forestry and Fisheries
• Joan Fubbs: Chairperson of Trade and Industry
• Sisa Njikelana: Chairperson of Energy
• Luwellyn Landers: Chairperson of Justice and Constitutional Development
• Vincent Smith – Chairperson of Correctional Services
• Beauty Dambuza – Chairperson of Human Settlements

Faith Bikani, the Chairperson of the Mineral Resources Portfolio Committee, and Mamagase Nchabeleng, the Chairperson of the Labour Portfolio Committee, do not appear on either list. Whether they were left off the list or chose not to return is unclear. Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, John Jeffery, does not appear on the national list either, but can be found on the provincial to national list. Speculation has also been rife about whether Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, will be returning to his current position with the inclusion of former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni, at 41 on the national list.

While the lists do not indicate the position that candidates will need to get into Parliament, it is surprising to see the ANC's dedicated Chairperson for the Police Portfolio Committee, Annelize van Wyk, at only 200th on the national list. This probably means that even if the ANC gets a 60% result in the election, van Wyk won’t be making it back to Parliament.

Parliament’s first and only deaf MP, the ANC’s Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, is 136 on the ANC’s national list. Newhoudt-Druchen has been part of the ANC for years, and has played a crucial role in making MPs more deaf-aware in Parliament. She was also the one to alert the public to the fake signage during Nelson Mandela’s Memorial.

Since the release of the lists, the public has not spent much time lamenting over Members who did not make the national list; however, there has been a lot of focus on MPs - like Dina Pule, found guilty of nepotism and unethical conduct, and Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Petterssen, found guilty of maladministration and unethical conduct – who are high up on the national list, at 70 and 37 respectively. Other candidates accused or convicted of fraud or other crimes include Pule Mabe, Cassel Mathale, Bathabile Dlamini, Beauty Dlulane, Mnyamezeli Booi, Ruth Bhengu and Humphrey Mmemezi.

The IFP, the ACDP, UDM, MF, COPE, FF, and newcomers – the Patriotic Alliance, the EFF, AGANG, and other minority parties have submitted their lists. While some parties have not made their lists public yet, the DA and ANC released theirs earlier this week. The DA’s list does not have many surprises; however, it is worth mentioning that Dene Smuts, the DA’s much-respected Shadow Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, will not be returning to Parliament next year.

What happens now?

According to IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer, Mosotho Moepya, the process went well and parties seemed to hand in their lists on time. The rest of the IEC’s schedule looks as follows:

• 18 March: The Chief Electoral Officer to issue notices of non-compliance notices to political parties;
• 27 March: Cut-off date for political parties to comply;
• 28 - 31 march: Notice of inspection of candidates and accompanying documents published – list open for inspection;
• 1 April: Cut-off date for objections to a candidate;
• 7 April: Cut-off date for the decision of objections to a candidate;
• 7 - 17 April: Application for special votes to Municipal Electoral Officer open;
• 10 April: Cut-off date for appeals against a decision of the Commission;
• 15 April: Cut-off date for deciding appeals and notifying parties;
• 22 April: Chief Electoral Officer to give effect to decisions of the Commission on objections or appeals to the electoral Court; Chief Electoral Officer to compile a list of parties entitled to contest elections;
• 24 April: Certificates issued to candidates on a final list of candidates;
• 30 April: Application and casting of special votes outside the Republic;
• 5-6 May: Visitation for purposes of casting a special vote; casting of special vote at the office of the presiding officer
• 7 May: Day of National Elections