Parties face deregistration

A total of 138 political parties are facing deregistration unless they state in writing by 31 March their intention to remain registered, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced yesterday.

Every year prior to an election, the IEC gets inundated with political parties that want to register to participate in the election, but the majority cannot muster enough votes to make it to parliament or the provincial legislatures.

SA is a multiparty democracy and anyone can register a political party as long as the nonrefundable registration fee is paid.

Presently, 14 parties were represented in parliament, of which the top three are the ANC with 230 seats, the Democratic Alliance with 84 seats and the Economic Freedom Fighters with 44 seats.

Section 15(6) of the Electoral Act, read with regulation 10 of the Regulations for the Registration of Parties 2004, require a party that is not represented in any sphere of government to renew its registration before the last day of January every year.

Of the 450 political parties currently registered, 93 are represented in the national, provincial or municipal legislatures.

A further 219 parties had contested an election in the past two years, were recent registrations or had informed the IEC of their intention to renew their registration by the due date.

The IEC has notified the remaining 138, asking them to submit a letter requesting renewal by 31 March 2020, or be deregistered.

On the list was the Independent Democrats, formerly headed by Patricia de Lille, who established the Good party and is presently minister of public works and infrastructure.