A bitter fallout among members of South Africa’s electoral reform consultation panel has come to light in Parliament after lawmakers were handed two conflicting reports on proposed changes to the country’s voting system.
MPs voiced their frustration on Friday, expressing disapproval at being presented with the competing reports after the panel spent 15 months travelling across the country to gather public input on potential electoral reforms.
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Panel chairperson Richard Sizani accused the majority faction of disregarding several public submissions, while the opposing group alleged that Sizani’s team sought to advance certain preferred options.
Last month, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber tabled both documents in Parliament — one referred to as the original report and the other as the majority report.
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Lawmakers Caught Between Two Reports
Addressing MPs on Friday, Schreiber said it was not his role to mediate internal disputes within the panel, emphasising that the law permits multiple reports and that the process must remain independent.
Panel chair Richard Sizani revealed that divisions within the group became evident just two weeks before the final report’s submission deadline.
“I was really disappointed, because I had thought we could be magnanimous enough to accommodate each other, and each other’s views because we had a number of choices, we could do either three [options], which we have done, or up to five,” he said.
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Representing the majority camp, former IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula said the report’s earlier drafts were late and failed to capture the full range of perspectives gathered during consultations.
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“The impression was that a minority of the panel members sought to promote specific options,” Tlakula stated.
The parliamentary committee has since decided to seek guidance from the Speaker and Parliament’s legal services on whether both reports can be formally accepted for consideration.
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