As South Africa approaches the 2024 general elections, it is important to reflect on some of the more notable constitutional and legislative reforms since 1994.
September 7, 1993 – Creation of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) agreed by 26 parties negotiating at the World Trade Center.
24 December 1993 – The inaugural general meeting of the IEC was attended by 11 South African members under the leadership of Chairman Judge Johan Kriegler and Vice-Chairman Advocate Dikghan Moseneke. Thereafter, five international members will also join the IEC.
October 4, 1996 – The Election Commission Act was promulgated and the Election Commission was established as a permanent body.
December 10, 1996 – The country's new constitution is signed.
October 12, 1998 – Election Law No. 73 is passed, providing the legal framework for free and fair elections.
1999 – Supports requirement for barcoded identification to register as a voter
1999 – Prisoners gain the right to vote in general elections
2002 – Passed by legislators at national, state, and local levels.
2009 – South Africans abroad gain the right to vote in the general election.
December 2003 – The President assent to the Electoral Law Reform Act, Act No. 34 of 2003. The new amendment includes his two important subsections of Article 16 that deal with the issue of voter rolls. The new provisions will require the IEC CEO to provide all registered political parties participating in elections with a copy of the voters' register, including the addresses of their voters. The second addition prohibits the use of information in the voter rolls for purposes other than election purposes and the introduction of criminal offenses for violations thereof.
January 6, 2009 – President Galema Motlanthe agrees to amend the constitution to repeal the floor crossing law (introduced in 2002).
2013 – After a by-election in Tlokwe in the northwest, a number of independent candidates challenged the freedom of election on the grounds that voters' addresses were not recorded and many voted in the wrong precinct. The fairness was challenged.
November 30, 2015 – The Constitutional Court rules that, regardless of the outcome, seven by-elections held in Tlokwe city in 2013 were not free and fair.
February 29, 2016 – The IEC holds a press conference at its Centurion headquarters and announces its intention to take the case to the Constitutional Court seeking clarification on the November 2015 Tlokwe decision. In a detailed statement, the IEC acknowledged that “differences in interpretation” of the November 2015 judgment had created “much uncertainty.” These include whether the Constitutional Court's decision on obtaining the domicile of voters is prospective or retrospective insofar as it relates to voters who were registered on the electoral register before 30 November 2016. Masu. Whether the absence of an address on a voter list invalidates the list. and whether the term “if available” in the law relates to addresses available to electoral commissions and addresses available to voters.
June 14, 2016 – A majority judgment of the Constitutional Court obliges the IEC to provide the addresses of voters recorded in the voter register by June 30, 2018. and (among other things) to submit six-monthly reports to the court.
Sources used for this timeline: Newsnet (SABC News Research); IEC Report on 25 Years of Democracy