Leaking of party election lists is not a good start

The leaks of the candidate lists — for aspirant MPs in the May 29 general elections — have shown once more the weaknesses in our electoral democracy.

On Friday, all political parties contesting the upcoming elections submitted lists of candidates they have nominated for MP positions to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC). Unlike previous elections, individuals or independents nominated themselves for seats in the seventh parliament.

The lists of all parties and independents have yet to be officially released by the IEC. However, leaks of the ANC and Jacob Zuma’s MK party lists have dominated the media this weekend.

As expected, the ANC flouted its own integrity processes by nominating individuals flagged by its own watchdog structures. Worse, it ignored red flags from the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.

Beneficiaries of this morally flexible approach include deputy water affairs minister David Mahlobo, former home affairs and finance minister Malusi Gigaba, sport, arts & culture minister Zizi Kodwa and deputy defence minister Thabang Makwetla.

These were implicated in the state capture report but still made it onto the list. The ANC claimed the serious allegations against them had not been tested. This is despite concerns by the party’s Integrity Commission. It flies in the face of calls by the ANC Veterans League, headed by Snuki Zikalala, that those facing corruption allegations should not be nominated.

The ANC’s soft approach on corruption was one of the main reasons cited by Mavuso Msimang, Zikalala’s deputy, for his resignation from the league and the ANC last December. Msimang rescinded his resignation after being promised that the ANC would adopt a harder line on corruption. The candidates list was supposed to be the party’s first test of this commitment.

The only people who were left out of the ANC list are those who have been criminally charged. These include Zandile Gumede, the ANC’s former eThekwini mayor, and ANC Limpopo executive Danny Msiza.

The list will further divide the party. The Integrity Commission has been shown to be toothless again. The ANC has sought to strengthen this structure by making it independent of the national executive committee but has failed to get voters to take it seriously. Efforts to ask those fingered in corruption to voluntarily withdraw from nomination have failed.

Once again, it shows the ANC values its unity more than renewal or the national interest. The leaking of the list by an IEC official has marred an otherwise reliable process.

The late finalisation of its list was an attempt to stop mass defections to the MK party, which leaked its own candidate list. As expected, Zuma, who has been the face of the new party, tops the MP list and his daughter, Duduzile, features prominently.

Like the ANC’s list, the MK party’s features corruption accused including Zuma himself and tenderpreneur Roy Moodley. Zuma is due to face trial over corruption allegations in the arms deal.

The past fortnight has revealed the true cost of contesting elections. Roger Jardine’s Change Starts Now, formed in December, announced last week it would not contest the elections due to the requirement of thousands of signatures for new parties ahead of the March 8 deadline.

As well as the impossible signature requirement, new parties — those not already in parliament — face a steep financial deposit. While understandable, these requirements stack the odds against new parties and protect those inside the legislatures.

This is a pity. Our democracy is poorer without Jardine’s party on the ballot. South Africans are yearning for — and deserve — a choice of new ideas. The ANC’s dominance of the political space for the past 30 years has resulted in its arrogance and contempt for the electorate, especially the poor.

In coming days, it will be clearer how many of the plethora of new parties have made it to the ballot paper. We will also get a better picture of how many independent hopefuls have made it.

The IEC, which has faced reduced budgets, has its job cut out. Between now and May 29, it will face litigation, a decision on whether Zuma can contest the election and the challenge of accurately compiling regional, provincial and national ballot papers.

In the short term, it needs to effectively and swiftly deal with the leak of the ANC’s list to restore confidence in its processes.

ONCE AGAIN, IT SHOWS THE ANC VALUES ITS UNITY MORE THAN RENEWAL OR THE NATIONAL INTEREST