Committee recommends NCOP passes Electoral Laws Amendment Bill without amendments

CAPE TOWN - The contentious Electoral Laws Amendment Bill has been agreed to without amendments in a swift meeting of the National Council of Province (NCOP)'s select committee on security and justice on Wednesday morning, setting up a likely court challenge from opposition parties. 
 
The bill will change the funding formula for how political parties are allocated funds from the state, with major windfalls set to come the way of the African National Congress (ANC) as smaller parties lose out. 
 
At least half a billion rand is set to be distributed from state coffers before this election after the finance minister set aside an additional R200 million through the new budget to help parties campaign.
 
The primary objective of the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill is to ensure independent candidates declare their funding sources. 
 
But it includes several other changes, including removing the donation limit and the threshold for declarations and leaving these for the president to decide. 
 
On Tuesday, a broad spectrum of political parties said they would go to court if the NCOP also approved a change to the funding formula. 
 
Some R300 million of annual funding is still to be disbursed to parties via the Electoral Commission by the end of March and a further R200 million ahead of the elections. 
 
On Wednesday, chairperson of the select committee, Shahidabibi Shaikh, said the committee was satisfied that the bill meets Constitutional Court requirements. 
 
"In terms of our recommendation, the select committee on security and justice, having considered the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill referred to the committee on the 12th March, recommends that the council passes the bill without amendments." 
 
The bill will now be put before the National Council of Provinces for final approval.