The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and North West are the only provinces where independent candidates are not standing in the general elections, following an amendment to the Electoral Act which allows independent candidates to take part in national and provincial elections.
The change in the law was prompted by a challenge upheld by the Constitutional Court in June 2020, which required Parliament to address shortcomings in the law. The previous law stated that adult citizens who wanted to be elected to Parliament or a state assembly could only win a seat through membership of a political party.
In these three states, all seats will be contested by political parties only. The IEC has confirmed that there will be no independent candidates in the regional or state polls. Independent candidates can only contest in these two polls along with political parties. The national compensatory vote continues to be reserved for political parties only.
In the Northern Cape, 24 parties are contesting in the provincial elections and 30 parties are contesting in the local elections. In Mpumalanga, 33 parties are contesting in the local elections and 27 parties are contesting for provincial parliamentary seats. In the North West, 34 parties are contesting for parliamentary seats in the local elections and 28 parties are contesting in the provincial elections.
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