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The Crucial Role of Public Participation in South Africa’s Electoral Reform

Daniela Ellerbeck discusses the Electoral Act, as well as electoral reform and the importance of public participation.

The post THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN SOUTH AFRICA’S ELECTORAL REFORM appeared first on FW de Klerk Foundation.

Issued by Daniela Ellerbeck on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation:

*This article was first published as an opinion piece in Mail & Guardian on 26/01/2025.

Introduction

South Africans can all agree that we desperately need a system that makes our elected representatives accountable to them, the voters, not a political party. South Africa’s electoral system, set out in the Electoral Act, 1998 (as amended), is responsible for this: It determines how our votes get used to decide how many seats in Parliament go to which political party and how those political parties decide which member to give that seat to.

The Electoral Reform Consultation Panel is currently considering if (and how) South Africa’s current electoral system contained in the Act should be changed. The Panel is holding a public consultation at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Monday, 27 January 2025. It is critical that the public participate at the Panel.

Why Should South Africans Care?

In a previous piece, the Foundation set out the pros and cons of the three main different electoral system options available. Our country’s current proportional representation (“PR”) electoral system, while fair and encouraging of diverse representatives, does nothing to fix this accountability problem. (In fact, it encourages it as under the PR system, elected representatives are appointed by their party, making them more accountable to their political party, than to the electorate.) It also fails to meet other constitutional requirements, such as responsiveness and openness.

Fix the Accountability Problem:

It is submitted that the only way to address South Africa’s problem of dwindling voter turnout, is to fix the accountability problem. We need a new system to do this and by doing so, restore public trust in our democracy. Such a new system, besides adhering to the Constitution’s requirements, must also prevent a situation in which state-capture can ever arise again by….continue reading this article HERE.

 

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