Small parties at risk
SIR — Stephen Grootes is right on the money in his article (Don’t hold your breath for a ward system, June 12). It is unlikely that South African party bosses would ever agree to enforce some form of constituency system in SA, as the current system gives them great control over MPs.
However, he is wrong when he says a change in the electoral system will result in smaller parties, with concentrated support in certain geographic regions, seeing an increased presence in Parliament. Using a Westminsterstyle constituency system would in all likelihood entrench the current power of the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA), hasten SA’s development towards a two-party system, and wipe out SA’s smaller parties. For example, in last year’s municipal elections, the ANC won nearly 80% of all wards that were up for grabs, while the DA won about 15%. The only other two parties that won more than 10 of the nearly 4 000 wards were SA’s two explicitly Zulu parties, the Inkatha Freedom Party (with 143) and the National Freedom Party (with 41).
There are generally two outcomes in the Westminster-style, first-past-thepost system. In the first, the two largest parties will dominate electoral politics, with the voices of smaller parties crowded out. This is generally the case in the US and the UK. The other situation is that one party completely dominates the legislature, even though its popular support may be far below the proportion of seats it has in Parliament. This is the situation in Botswana. This was also the situation in SA before 1994, when the National Party’s proportion of seats in the whitesonly Parliament was far higher than its proportion of the white vote.
Mr Grootes is right when he says that any change to a constituency system would result in an overwhelming ANC majority. Whatever the relevant merits of the ruling party are, it is not healthy for any democracy to have one party with a huge majority, which is what the ANC would have if we changed to a pure Westminster-style constituency system.
The solution is simple. SA should elect its MPs with the mixed-member proportional representation system that is currently used at municipal level. With this system, half a municipality’s representatives are chosen at ward level, while the rest are drawn off a proportional representation list, to ensure proportionality. At national level we would thus have half our MPs chosen from constituencies, with the rest chosen off a proportional representation list.
If South African political parties are serious about giving ordinary South Africans a say in the governing of this country, then electoral reform should be one of their main priorities.