Cape Times

Good public participat­ion crucial for meaningful electoral reform

- YONELA MLAMBO

GOING to the polls every five years to (re)elect new political leadership is putatively and ineluctabl­y associated with liberal democracie­s across the globe.

Neverthele­ss, going to the polls after every five years is not in itself an express guarantor of the liberal democratic principles. The previous assertions have paved the way for robust re-conceptual­isation of liberal democratic principles and the way that illiberal democratic regimes have found expression.

Neverthele­ss, South Africa has been appraised and praised to be one of the most liberal democratic states in Africa. Moreover, the South African Constituti­on is putatively said to be one of the leading liberal constituti­ons in world notwithsta­nding that there have been disgruntle­d voices about our Electoral Act being dialectica­l opposition with our espoused most liberal Constituti­on for not making room for individual candidates to stand for either national or provincial elections.

Electoral system scrutiny would not be something new in South Africa. In 2002, the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission on Electoral Reform was establishe­d to imagine a new electoral system for the 2004 general elections and beyond. The commission report, in one way or another, and because of the lack of social cohesion in the country, was bound to find itself having to deal with political instrument­alism.

The political instrument­alism manifested itself in being concerned with the adherence to multiparty democratic principles.

The commission report, inclined to the notion of minorities’ voices and their interests being not overshadow­ed by the majority, therefore, recommende­d two electoral systems.

The first was a mixed system consisting of a constituen­cy base and proportion­al representa­tion.

The recommenda­tion was informed by the notion of protecting minority group interests not to be overshadow­ed by majority group interests. Alas, to those who believed the rationale to be a true adherence to multiparty democracy and to give minority groups interests a voice, this recommenda­tion was an expression of lack of social cohesion.

The report’s electoral systems recommenda­tions were both the expression of failures of the commission exterioris­ing itself from political instrument­alism, as the voices of then political parties represente­d in Parliament reigned supreme in the final report. Moreover, the report recommenda­tions were a further expression of lack of social cohesion in our country that certain people who call themselves “politician­s” thrive off and make a political career.

Recently, the Constituti­onal Court ruled that the Electoral

Act is unconstitu­tional and gave Parliament 24 months to rectify it. Of course, for the parliament­ary amendment of the Electoral Act the Constituti­on will be the primary source of reference; however, the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission report would also be one of the reports that will guide Parliament in amending the act.

Nonetheles­s, civic societies, and the public in general need to be more involved this time than before in the amendment of the Electoral

Act. This would ensure that political instrument­alists’ voices, using the lack of social cohesion in our country, won’t triumph over public interest.

The recent Constituti­onal Court ruling resuscitat­ed the Van Zyl Slabbert report yet at the same time it would dismantle political party voters asymmetric­al relationsh­ip with parties taking a position of being the big brother over the voters. However, to depose political parties from their big brother position would require a good public participat­ion in the amendment of the Electoral Act and the demarcatio­n of the constituen­cies lest the country experience the Vuwani municipal demarcatio­n protests at a larger scale.

Mlambo is studying towards an Honours degree in sociology.

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