Our electoral system needs reform

WITH so many overpaid and plentiful politicians – South Africa should be working like a dream.

As an ex-councillor by choice, I often hear people say that although they dislike all the political parties or candidates on offer, they still want to vote but do not know who to vote for.

In the last election of 2019, more than 235 000 South Africans spoiled their vote – making these voters the fifth largest political grouping.

The spoiled vote is seen as a protest vote. These voters want change and are tired and gatvol of the current lot of parties on offer.

Rather than not voting at all – they are spoiling their vote.

The current electoral dispensation is not working for the benefit of most citizens – there are too many politicians, and they are overpaid.

The average salary for a councillor in the large metropolitan areas is approximately R525 000 (part-time) per year.

My vote is precious and is in fact earned. By spoiling your vote, you are sending a message to the IEC that South Africa desires electoral reform.

Let us revisit the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission for Electoral Reform – let civil society and all interested parties sit down in a Codesa 2-type arrangement and hammer out a different system of politics that works uniquely for South Africans.

How to spoil your vote? Vote for every party; vote for more than one party; write a love letter to politicians on your ballot paper and tell them exactly what you think of them – or just scribble all over your ballot papers.

It is my constitutional right to spoil my vote. It is my right to tell politicians that the electoral system is broken and needs reform. Your spoiled vote is your secret.

GARY SCALLAN | Capri