Our presidential system is flawed

WE TOOK it for granted when Nelson Mandela became president of the ANC and thereafter also president of South Africa in 1994, as a good way forward to build up our democracy.

But now, after finding out what’s happening, it transpires very clearly, a party-president cannot, at the same time be the state-president in a real democratic country (it’s a serious conflict of interest) and also acknowledge the fact that the state is the highest authority and not the ruling party.

The duties of any ruling party is to serve the state (which holds the constitution) by observing and playing along the constitution (not bending it) and forming policies in the best interests of the country and for its entire people, and not just for some of its people.

As we have seen in many countries, being the party-boss and the country-boss, mostly leads to dictatorship, ill government, state-rape, nepotism and all the other ills faced by those countries going that route.

There has to be a neutral, impartial, unbiased and nonself-serving public figure (called the state-president) to represent all people, all parties, cultural-principles, taxpayers and all ideas.

The appointments at state departments become the duty of the president who is above party-politics and in agreement with those who manage the departments and all other state organisations, including a watchful eye over how the state and the ruling party spend the taxpayers’ money and holds an independent justice system.

The president also needs to clip the wings of any ruling party should the behaviour not be in the best interest of the country as a whole and jerk them into correction.

As president, Nelson Mandela was an entirely different scenario, he was an exception. His shining example in reconciliation, transformation, acceptance of the way it is (not the way it should be) and love for his country and ALL its people qualified him to be country-and party-president, since he was (and still is) a unique, one and only, incomparable politician, unmatched for quite some time.

It’s time to come to terms with the fact that without the personality of a president like Nelson Mandela, our ruling structure of our democracy needs to be changed.

The consequences are obvious, when egocentric party-leaders crown themselves president.

What’s happening in South Africa right now challenges us not to fall into that trap and extend our learned experiences and add it or transform it into new or higher awareness, thereby rising our collective consciousness.

Why should South Africa be a victim of such tragedy when we actually know and have experienced better? Fontainebleau, Randburg