Controversial legislation which provides the framework for next year’s general elections, but effectively disenfranchising ordinary South Africans temporarily abroad, was adopted by the National Assembly on Friday.
During a sometimes acrimonious debate on the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, Sakkie Pretorius of the Democratic Alliance criticised the ANC for making an about-turn on the issue after the home affairs portfolio committee unanimously agreed last week to allow certain categories of South African citizens temporarily abroad to vote.
The ANC brought a last minute amendment this week allowing only state employees and their households abroad to vote.
Pretorius said this was the ”arrogant way in which the ANC treats the constitutional rights of South Africans”.
If the ANC was serious in encouraging young people abroad to return to South Africa, it should give them the opportunity to vote abroad, he said.
”There is no logical reason why the ANC and the government should in any way limit a person who is abroad temporarily in regard to his or her right to vote.”
The only people who should not have the right to vote were South Africans who had emigrated or had taken up permanent residence abroad, Pretorius said.
The DA tabled a formal amendment proposing South Africans temporarily working and studying abroad should be entitled to vote. Nhlahla Zulu of the Inkatha Freedom Party said his party ”suffered from political hypertension” on hearing of the ANC’s decision.
However, the IFP would still support the bill.
The New National Party also moved a formal amendment in terms of which all South Africans abroad, who had been abroad for a period of no more than five years and held a valid South African passport, should be allowed to vote.
Nevertheless, the party’s Richard Pillay said the NNP would vote in favour of the bill even if its amendment was defeated.
A third amendment was proposed by Dr Corné Mulder of the Freedom Front.
It would have allowed citizens normally resident in South Africa, but temporarily abroad, to vote.
”The right to vote is the most basic and fundamental right that lies at the heart of any democracy. We claim to be a democracy. The ANC even go as far as to boast that we have the most modern democracy in the world. Is this really true or not?” he said.
”We are not talking about people who have emigrated, but about law-abiding citizens, from all communities, who are temporarily abroad.”
Mulder warned the FF was considering taking the issue to the Constitutional Court.
”Don’t you dare to ever again call this the most modern democracy in the world because it is not. We have warned you — we will see you in court,” he said.
The African Christian Democratic Party’s Steve Swart also threatened court action, asking why special provision should be made only for government officials and their households to vote overseas, while many students, employees and businessmen could not.
The infrastructure would be in place for those government officials to vote and foreign diplomatic missions could, as in 1994 and 1999, quite easily be used for voting on a broader scale.
The ACDP believed the exclusion of overseas voters would be unconstitutional, and was obtaining counsel’s opinion as to whether it should proceed with litigation in the Constitutional Court, Swart said.
The opposition amendments were rejected after a division and the bill adopted. It will now go to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. – Sapa