System doesn’t allow ‘conscience vote’
On Monday, December 12, the speaker of the national assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-nqakula declined the African Transformation Movement’s request to have the voting procedure on the section 89 independent panel’s report determined through a secret ballot.
There is no valid reason for any political party or any public representative to take a simple matter like this to a court of law. It is so unfortunate that some of the political parties and public representatives have become litigious to such an extent that they have turned councils, provincial legislatures and parliament into heckling and howling competition venues.
A conscience vote, whether it is done through open ballot or secret ballot, is extremely overrated in South Africa. First, because with our party lists system, those who become members of the councils, provincial legislatures and parliament are expected to carry the mandate of the political parties that nominated them to serve in those legislative bodies. Second, some of the public representatives from the governing to the opposition parties, if not most, have continued to display very little conscience to talk about from day one.
If there was any semblance of conscience within those legislative bodies, the ratepayers and taxpayers in this country would have been the first beneficiaries of such conscience displayed consistently through good governance, ethical leadership, excellent service delivery, objective political oversight etc.
For some of the public representatives, taking an oath is a mere box-ticking exercise and one-way ticket to lucrative parliamentary salary packages and benefits.
In my view, there are three critical things that can be done to at least give some credence to a conscience vote in South Africa. First, the glaring conflict between the constitution of the republic and electoral laws must be aligned in such a manner that public representatives may be allowed to exercise their conscience vote without fear of being punished by their political parties.
Second, the electoral laws must be amended to ensure that those who have powers directly vote for a president of their own choice and their preferred MPS in a constituency-based electoral system; and the political party lists system must be scrapped.
Third, the electoral laws must be amended to ensure that constituency representatives are compelled to extensively consult on regular basis and always get a mandate from their constituencies, more especially to vote on critical issues that are regarded as serious violation of the constitution, misconduct, unlawful/illegal conduct and inability to perform the functions. This should include all other issues that do not promote and advance the interest of the republic.
Lesego Sechaba Mogotsi Azapo member, Tshwane