SUBMISSION URGENT REQUEST FOR CONFIRMATION OF PARLIAMENT'S TIMELINES, ROADMAP AND INSTITUTIONAL PRIORITIES FOR ERCP REPORT

Dear Honourable Chairperson Chabane

I write on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation (“the Foundation”) regarding Parliament’s ongoing consideration of the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (“ERCP”) consolidated report submitted in terms of section 23 of the Electoral Amendment Act, 2023.
The Foundation recognises the complexity of the issues under consideration. However, Parliament has now had the report before it for more than six months. Yet the process, timelines, institutional arrangements and public participation programme remain uncertain. Any continued delay increases the risk that Parliament will fail to fulfil its legal and constitutional obligations.

This correspondence follows the Foundation’s (attached) letters to Parliament dated 5 February 2026, 24 February 2026, 24 April 2026 and 23 June 2026. Its purpose is to request that Parliament urgently confirm the matters set out in paragraph 14 of this email.

The Foundation acknowledges and appreciates the Speaker of the National Assembly’s attached letter dated 10 July 2026, which confirms that the Foundation’s correspondence was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs for consideration. The Foundation also acknowledges and appreciates the following communication received from Parliament on:
1. 24 April 2026 the Foundation was informed that the ERCP would brief a joint meeting comprising the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Select Committee on Security and Justice on 28 April 2026.
2. 3 June 2026, the Foundation was informed that internal engagements were underway to determine the appropriate mechanism and process for further consideration of the ERCP report, including whether the matter should proceed through joint, ad hoc or separate committee structures. Parliament further indicated that a public participation process was contemplated and that a public call for comments on the ERCP report was anticipated from late June 2026.
3. 3 June 2026, you informed that Foundation that a technical team had been mandated to develop a roadmap for the processing of the ERCP report, with a report expected by 14 June 2026. To date, no such roadmap has been made public.
4. 31 July 2026, the Foundation was informed that a meeting between the aforementioned committees was scheduled for 7 August 2026 and that Parliament’s third term had been shortened due to increased constituency work ahead of the local government elections.
5. 5 August 2026, the Foundation was informed that the meeting scheduled for 7 August 2026 had been postponed following “consultation with the Whip, and her engagement with the Chairpersons of the Select Committee and the Portfolio Committee on CoGTA… due to the unavailability of members who are engaged in oversight visits with other committees.” Importantly, no follow-up date for the postponed meeting was specified.

Despite these engagements, several fundamental issues (set out in paragraph 14) remain unclear.

As matters presently stand, the Foundation respectfully submits that the process appears to remain in an extended planning phase notwithstanding the increasing urgency of the matter and the narrowing period available for meaningful reform before the 2029 elections.
Section 23 of the Electoral Amendment Act, 2023 was enacted to facilitate a comprehensive review of South Africa’s electoral system to enable Parliament to determine whether reforms should be implemented before the next national and provincial elections
following the 2024 elections.
Parliament is legally responsible for ensuring that the ERCP report is considered through a process that is rational, transparent, participatory and capable of producing meaningful outcomes while sufficient time remains for implementation.
Specifically, regarding rationality, the Foundation has consistently emphasised that substantive electoral reform involves multiple, interconnected, complex processes that are resource-intensive and time-consuming. Every month of delay compresses the timetable available for these processes and correspondingly reduces the prospects of implementing meaningful reform before the 2029 elections.
Continued delays may leave Parliament with insufficient time to deliver meaningful reform before 2029. In that event, Parliament’s process will no longer be rationally connected to section 23’s purpose and Parliament will risk falling foul of the rule of law.

The issue is not merely whether Parliament eventually considers the report, but whether it does so in sufficient time for any reforms arising from that process to be realistically implemented.

The Foundation respectfully submits that continued delay in the consideration of the ERCP report gives rise to several significant legal and constitutional risks, such as the risk of both:
1. Defeating the purpose of section 23, namely to facilitate a meaningful review of South Africa’s electoral system following the 2024 elections and sufficiently in advance of the 2029 national and provincial elections; and
2. Undermining Parliament’s constitutional obligations arising from inter alia:
1. 1. Section 1(c) of the Constitution (constitutional supremacy and the rule of law);
  2. Section 1(d) (accountability, responsiveness and openness);
  3. Section 18 (freedom of association);
  4. Section 19 (political rights);
  5. Sections 46(1) and 105(1) (the constitutional requirement that national legislation prescribe the electoral system for the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures);
  6. Sections 59 and 72 (the facilitation of meaningful public involvement); and
  7. Section 42(1) (Parliament’s constitutional role).

The Foundation respectfully submits that considerations of transparency, legal certainty and Parliament’s constitutional responsibilities now require clarity regarding these matters.
Accordingly, and given the urgency of the matter, the Foundation respectfully requests that Parliament confirm:
1. Parliament’s intended mechanism and process of consideration of the ERCP report, including the manner in which the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces intend coordinating their respective processes.
2. The current stage of Parliament’s consideration.
3. Whether Parliament has adopted, or is finalising, a roadmap for the remainder of the process. And if so, to make public such road map.
4. Expected parliamentary decision-making timelines and reporting milestones, including the anticipated date by which Parliament intends to complete its consideration of the ERCP report.
5. Whether Parliament has considered downstream legislative, implementation and demarcation-related timelines that may arise from potential reform proposals and, whether sufficient time remains for any consequential legislative, administrative, electoral or demarcation-related processes that may be required should Parliament determine that substantive reform is warranted.
6. The anticipated timelines and arrangement for:
  1. Public participation;
  2. Stakeholder engagement;
  3. Committee deliberations;
  4. Committee reporting;
  5. Consideration by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces; and
  6. Final parliamentary determination of the matter.
The Foundation reiterates its respect for Parliament’s role and discretion in determining the most appropriate mechanisms through which the ERCP report should be considered. However, it is a fact that the practical window for meaningful electoral reform before the 2029 elections continues to narrow.
Parliament cannot allow a process intended to facilitate electoral reform to drift to the point that reform becomes practically incapable of implementation. Thus, the Foundation respectfully submits that the matter has now become one of utmost urgency, lest Parliament fail to fulfil its legal and constitutional duties.

We look forward to your response as a matter of urgency.

Sincerely,

Daniela Ellerbeck

Letter to Ms D Ellerbeck, FWDKF – July 2026

FWdKF Letter to NA Speaker, NCOP Chairperson, PPC Home Affairs, PPC COGTA & SC Justice – 23 June 2026

Electoral Reform – Letter to PPC Home Affairs – 24 April 2026

FWdKF Letter to NA Speaker & NCOP Chairperson – 24 Feb 2026

FWdKF Letter to PPC Home Affairs – 5 Feb 2026